Laetitia
by ElGal
Summary: Vaughn didn't talk a whole lot and "friendly" wasn't a word often associated with him. But there was something about Chelsea that made him try without his noticing. A Harvest Moon fic where the main characters are seen as actual humans rather than game characters. Alternating POVs. Lots of fluff, some angst. Heavy start but it cheers up! M for language and distressing scenes
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Yasuhiro Wada, Marvelous Interactive and publishers including but not limited to Natsume/XSEED Games (NA), Rising Star Games (EU), Nintendo (AUS) and Marvelous Entertainment (JP). No money is being made from the posting of this story and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. This disclaimer is true for this chapter and every chapter that follows in this story.**

 **A/N** **: So I decided to write a little one of these because at the time I'd run out of decent length, completed Velsea fics to read. I don't know if some of what I've put in here has been done before, but I hope not! Just to make things clear:**

 **This first chapter gets pretty grim at one point and if you've been in a shipwreck or similar disaster then it may be** **triggering** **.**

 **For other chapters that may contain mental health (mainly PTSD in this fic) triggers, I'll appropriately label them in an A/N at the start of the chapter.**

 **This is meant to be a more realistic fic, so there will be varying sexualities on the island. Therefore if you're homophobic at all, please leave and re-assess your life's priorities.**

 **M for** **language** **not sexual content, sorry folks, though there's heavy hinting and some light frottage and, I dunno, description of the naked body? On a language note, I 'take the Lord's name in vain'. A lot. So. I'm sorry if that offends you.**

 **This is sort of a weird fusion of Island of Happiness and Sunshine Island, with bits of other games chucked in there for shits and giggles.**

 **The cover photo is not mine! I can't find out who drew it, but all props goes to them.**

 **THIS FIRST CHAPTER IS REALLY HEAVY, BUT IT HAS IMPORTANT BITS IN IT SO PLEASE PUSH THROUGH TO CHAPTER 2!**

 **Chapter 1.**

\- Chelsea -

A tinny foghorn blared in the distant reaches of my consciousness and I blinked my eyes open, rotating my body so I was treading water in the sea. Looking around I saw the daily ferry from the mainland approaching on the horizon. Not wanting to get caught in the wake of the boat as it moored, I checked my watch and decided to paddle to shore – I'd been out in the water for too long as it was; my fingers closely resembled prunes and I could feel my face throb lightly with heat. I had woken ridiculously early that summer's day, sorted out my crops and decided to go for an early morning swim.

Reaching the beach I quickly towelled off, squeezing the water out my bikini's padding, and manhandled myself into my clothes. I'd learnt my lesson about being scantily clad when the sailors arrive in the past – when faced with a half-dressed woman, they made Denny seem like a prude. Speaking of – I spotted the fisherman walking out his shack, yawning and stretching, topless and with his rod in one hand.

"Morning, Denny!" I called as I jogged over to him, carrying my shoes in one hand and my damp towel in the other.

"Morning." The man yawned again and reached down to scratch his crotch lightly through his knee length shorts. I rolled my eyes and met him halfway as he made his way to the dock. He barely looked awake enough to talk, let alone navigate, so I was pretty sure that his feet were moving on autopilot.

"Why're you up so early?" I asked. Denny normally stole all the sleep he could get away with – which meant you were lucky to catch him before 10AM at the earliest – and it was 8AM now. At first I had put his habit down to jetlag – we had all suffered from it when our boat had shipwrecked on the island – but after a week of his staying, I had realised he was just lazy. Travelling "back in time" had been toughest for me as Natalie's family were at least American so they only had to suffer staying awake a few more hours than normal. My story was slightly more complicated, but simply put I was still running on London time when I'd stepped foot on the boat, so I had to deal with about 11 hours difference between my body clock and the one my wrist carried.

"Didn't Mirabelle tell you?" He asked, sitting down and prepping his rod to be cast. The ferry was about twenty minutes away at my estimation. Were it I that was preparing to fish I wouldn't have bothered, but knowing Denny he'd be able to bring in a decent haul even in only twenty minutes. "The animal dealer is coming to the island today. She figured that seeing as I live on the beach -" he broke off to yawn again, casting his line simultaneously, "it'd make sense if I were the one to greet him. Completely ignored the fact that there are plenty of other people here who actually wake up at stupid o'clock every day." He eyed me pointedly.

"Wouldn't it have made more sense if I were to?" I asked, slightly affronted at Mirabelle's lack of thought. "Me, the rancher?"

"That's what I told her." Denny said, perking up slightly as he reeled in a medium sized fish. "But apparently the guy's got some attitude. She thought it'd be better if someone more…buoyant dealt with him." He sent a grin my way – the first one of the day. It seemed fish and he were truly meant to be. I grimaced at his words however. Along with being the most jetlagged of the survivors, I'd also handled the change the worst and it seems that my actions back then were still affecting decisions made now.

Tourists had started arriving to the island in the last week of June – the official start of summer – once I'd shipped off the last of spring's crops and started fishing in earnest. It didn't sound bad when waffled about in talk of seasons…only we'd landed on the island in the last week of winter – midway through March – and I didn't actually start planting anything until the end of April. The month in between had been a pretty dark time for me. Taro, it seemed, had been part of the American troops that fought in the Second World War and was pretty accustomed to losing people, unexpected situations, near-death experiences and making do with what you could. He had seen the affair as an opportunity to live out his last years in peace and tranquillity on this little island somewhere in the middle of the Pacific. He had brought Felicia up with similar morals, as she had with her kids. Natalie had mourned the loss of the crew and life as she knew it for a few days maybe, and then got on with what needed to get done. Even Elliot, though he had struggled more and often cried in his sleep those first weeks (inside information from Natalie, you didn't hear it from me), had managed to pick himself back up again, possibly through the abuse that Natalie constantly shouted at him. I hadn't condoned her verbal abuse of her brother when I'd witnessed it first on the boat, but by the end of that first day he had saved her life and it had seemed more a twisted show of sibling love after that than it had before. Either way, it seemed that in this case he needed it to become functional again.

I, on the other hand, had been brought up with no such survival instincts. Perhaps growing up was less cut-throat in London than it had been in America, but my survivor's guilt had almost got the best of me within the first week. My mental health had never been brilliant, but at this point in my life I'd considered myself mostly recovered – and if not, then I was coping well enough for me. I'd got things in order in my head and I'd been blowing some cash on a holiday in the US before I was planning on moving out of my crappy flat in the City and bumming it in Somerset, trying to get some farming experience. Perfect opportunity – washing up on the shore of an island with and abandoned farm in need of a rancher, wasn't it? Well forgive me if it took me a while to see past the evening of dragging the prone body of the waitress who had served me dinner through the storming sea. To see past the line of corpses we'd managed to accumulate on the shore – each of them alive merely hours before. Each of them with their own life and family and history. Each of them now cold and dead, lungs filled with water or skulls cracked. The head of the last crewman we recovered had been markedly floppy and when Taro had moved it in preparation to try CPR we had all witnessed the bulge of broken bone distort the skin of his neck as the corpse's head had moved freely of the rest of his torso. Both Felicia and I had thrown up in the sand at that, and when I saw seaweed and tiny twitching prawns come up in my vomit, I'd started sobbing, clawing at my stomach knowing there were things _inside_ me, moving, and they were probably inside of all the bodies in front of us as well. I envisioned cutting them open and a whole ocean-full of life bursting out and I couldn't decide if that was beautiful or akin to something from a horror movie. That had been the beginning of a deep spiral for me.

While Taro had been frantically working at Natalie – one of the bodies we'd recovered and the only one who survived – I had been given the task of recovering items from the wreckage of the boat. The waves had calmed over the course of our recovery of the crew members which made it safer for me to handle solo, but more urgent as the water was no longer churning and keeping many of the belongings close to the surface. I hadn't felt in any way ready to deal with responsibility, but when you're in that sort of situation you just do what you have to – your body mostly moves on its own. Like how the adrenaline had made it possible for me to drag a dead human body through a stormy ocean, I now bypassed the pile of shivering prawns, seaweed and stomach juices, and dived right back into the sea that had tried to kill me. Looking back I wondered if I'd have ever been able to get in the water again if I hadn't had done it at that moment. There was no time for newly developed phobias to settle in – we were on a deserted island and if we were going to survive, we were going to need shit to do it with and that meant I was in charge of getting whatever I could. My rucksack had never left my back during the entire ordeal – so that was abandoned on the beach behind me as I swam back to where the shell of the ship rested in amongst rocks and gathered anything I could find – damp piles of cloth, books, even two cooking pots that were upside down and had air trapped in them, making them float on the surface of the tranquil sea. I didn't stop until the sun set – something that sounds far more impressive than it was, seeing as in actuality it was early evening when we crashed and maybe only three hours from sunset, two of which had been spent trying to find other survivors. The wind was biting when the sun wasn't up and we had sheltered in an old farmhouse – the one I lived in now. During my escapades, Felicia and Elliot had gone about burying the bodies in the sand. There wasn't time to make individual graves, so they had dug the deepest hole they could using the pans I had recovered in my first run, and rolled all the bodies in there one of top of one another. Following that, they'd pushed a massive rock on top of the grave, marking it and hopefully stopping the sea's drag from uncovering it.

Ever heard that saying that things look better in the morning? Yeah? Ever had a drunken one night stand and woken up in the morning to see their face and question why you _ever_ went _near_ that and grimly thought that the pale light of morning didn't help a thing? Well take the latter and multiply it by a hundred and you might be near how _wrong_ that saying is. The morning brought nothing but a bleak realisation that we were alone on an island with a pile of decomposing dead people and a few half-built shacks to see us through the end of the winter. Natalie spent that day in bed with Felicia looking after her, clutching her daughter's hand, still looking as pale as she did when Elliot had pulled his twin onto the shore, sobbing with the most torso-wracking heaves I'd ever witnessed. He had wanted to stay with his sister as well, but she had insulted his manliness for a few minutes and he'd turned tail pretty sharpish after that. Taro had been planning on dragging him out as it was. Me as well – we were all meant to explore the abandoned town and try to come up with a plan together, but I didn't make it. The only reason I'd slept the night before was because my body had shoved my brain into shut-down mode and I'd passed out, but now I was well-rested, my brain had full reign again and it wasn't happy. I kept seeing flashbacks even when my eyes were open and bile rose in my throat at one point and then just never went back down. It took three more vomits before I stopped seeing remnants of sea-life in what left my body, and by that point my throat was so raw I was glad when the bile decided to just hover instead of coming all the way out again. It wasn't a pretty day – me curled in a ball in the corner of the main room in the farmhouse, lying in my own sick because Natalie required too much care to leave and who else but myself was going to look after me? Once I was back on my feet, the first thing I did was shove one of the cabinets over that patch where I had lain, but at that point in time the corner became my home for most of the first week there.

By the evening of the first day, Natalie was recovered enough for Felicia to cook some sort of herb soup from some of the stuff the men had foraged that day. Taro and Elliot had come up with a plan as well – their family were in the shipping business and Taro had been a farmer back in the day. The trip had been properly documented and our absence would be noticed the next day when the boat didn't return from its weekend round trip. Taro guessed that people would be here to find us the day after that, but he had decided to stay on the island. Talking it over with their family, the rest of them agreed that they could use provisions from the rescue team to start up a new life here. They tried to bring me into the plan, saying I could be the farmer for the island and together we could bring the island back to life. They painted a glorious picture of rolling fields and blue skies, kids squealing on the beach in the summer and families sitting around fires with hot chocolates in an Inn in the winter. It was beautiful; it was fake. I felt like the only one who remembered the reason for the rock on the beach. I could see kids climbing on it and declaring themselves king or queen of the castle, I could see old couples going on moonlit walks on the beach, their feet sending vibrations through the sand to the corpses six feet underneath them. I could see widows back on the mainland drinking themselves into a stupor, parents mourning a picture of their child, children crying out for their dead mother or father in the night and dogs starving to death in locked flats with no one to care for them. It was the last one that really hit me hard – I'd always felt a strong sense of responsibility towards animals, especially those we human domesticated to the point where they would struggle to look after themselves if abandoned.

Long story short, I'd stayed silent. The rescue boat had come and gone, and I had stayed for reasons which I didn't have. We moved out the farmhouse and into a smaller one that was a bit better up-kept and closer to the shore. I spent a lot of time on the beach, back against the rock and hands wrist deep in sand. Elliot had actually had to drag me out the water a few times as I'd just sat there as the tide came in. I'd had problems before, but I'd never been this _out_ of it. I thought all these sorts of things were just fictional – ways to make the audience realise how deeply upset the protagonist was. I'd never realised that these were mental states that human beings were actually capable of; never seen it possible for someone to be so detached that looking after their own bodily functions became too much to handle. In TV shows, someone always came to the rescue – they showed the romantic interest helping the broken person shower and eat; they strung in good lines with pretty words and some moving backing music and made the thing entirely tragically beautiful.

They don't film the bits where you piss your own clothes because you didn't realise you needed the loo, or the long hours in the day when there simply isn't anyone to spare to look after you. If they were to be filming me they'd show the times when Elliot dragged me heroically from the rising tide and Felicia manhandled soup down my throat twice a day, they'd show Natalie making me smile and my slow but _tragically beautiful_ decent into insanity followed by my equally slow but equally _tragically beautiful_ recovery to normalcy, all with the help of a loving family around me. But they wouldn't see the times when I'd force myself to throw up the food I was given; when I'd flat out kick off at one of Natalie's comments and attack her in her own sick bed until Elliot pulled me off. They wouldn't see me then screaming at Elliot and running out the house determined to swim to _somewhere_ else. They wouldn't see the twins yelling at me about staying and having such a horrible time here when I could have left with the rescue boat, or any of the following boats that started to come regularly with provisions in exchange for foraged items that were worth something. They wouldn't see the night I disappeared and Elliot's torso-wracking sobbing that followed when Felicia found me sitting on the edge of a cliff next to a broken bridge, staring at the island across the way. None of them believed me when I said I hadn't been planning on jumping – which I honestly hadn't – but I didn't blame them.

In a soap opera there's usually a watershed moment, or a slow gradual recovery. There wasn't really either for me. I didn't slowly get better, nor did I suddenly snap out of it one morning. I was somewhere in between – my states of detachment began getting interrupted by a full bladder or empty stomach and for a few minutes after one such period of functionality I'd find myself feeling bored…before I'd remember that there were five people under the beach who would never have the luxury to feel bored again. One day, Taro had been in the house when I'd had a moment of boredom and had started talking to me about farming. It reignited something tiny in me, and in my lucid moments over the next week I would follow him to the farmland and huddle into a ball to watch him till the soil and plant turnip seeds, watering the ones that were already sprouting. I realised it was halfway through April and I couldn't remember a single notable thing I'd done from the past three weeks. I guess if I did have a grand awakening moment, it was seeing an old war veteran break his back over a field in the middle of nowhere to feed his family and live his dream of a peaceful retirement. Only it was hardly peaceful or a retirement when you had to work 24/7.

I moved into the farmhouse soon after, taking over Taro's crops and planting my own as April ticked over to May. Getting out of their hair improved my relationship with the twins, though Elliot and Felicia were nervous to let me go unsupervised. They made a rota to check on me and I was still required at theirs for meal times, but by the time I was well enough to look back and apologise at every given moment for all my embarrassing behaviour I guess they decided I was doing better, and they eventually stopped popping up every other hour to see how I was doing. Chen, Charlie, Gannon, Mirabelle and Julia moved in the first week of May. I clicked better with Julia than I did with Natalie – the brazen girl was funny but I was too delicate at the time to take her humour that was thinly veiled in borderline abusive comments. Julia was the sort of person that was genuinely _good_ and she was there for me in those first few weeks of me being on my own two feet. I'd broken down on her more times than I cared for, and my usual stubborn nature made me promise each time would be the last; my British stiff upper lip meaning that I would apologise for my ridiculous breakdown and then steadfastly deny it ever happened. Frustration was always near the surface with me, as my timid mentally sick self was so vastly the opposite of my bouncy, friendly mentally well self, and everyone on the island had seen enough of the former to make them think that the latter was an act. In any case, that was Mirabelle and Julia's first impression of me – this broken mess of a person – and it seemed they wouldn't ever really be able to see past that. It was comforting in a way to know that they would have my back – the number of times Julia had had a go at Natalie when one of her comments had cut me deep enough to upset me – but frustrating to see that they were always going to see me as this delicate little thing that they couldn't be frank with. I'd spent the majority of May convincing them – and everyone else to that matter – that I was just _fine_ and no, fine actually means fine and yes, I will let them know if there's anything wrong.

"Oh." I replied as I flopped down next to Denny. Denny had arrived with the first influx of fishing tourists in June and had only seen me as Happy Chelsea. He had heard the stories of course – who hadn't? – but it was clear he couldn't really equate it to the person in front of him and that's exactly how I wanted it to be. I didn't _want_ to be treated like glass, I didn't _need_ to be treated like glass – I hadn't been hurt by Natalie's snide nature in over a month, and in return she and I had actually bonded quite well seeing as we both had a pretty dark sense of humour. "Well that's dumb." I said, lying back and flicking my feet in the water. Denny grunted and placed a hand on my thigh to stop my legs from moving and scaring away the fish. "I can handle attitude."

"Well maybe it was more the fact that you have your own attitude that she chose me then." He replied, grinning cheekily. I knew that it was definitely because Mirabelle thought I was easily broken, but I appreciated his words nonetheless. As it was, I knew that Mirabelle had put off calling in her animal dealer connection until I was "well enough" to care for something more than tomatoes.

"Hey, I don't have attitude!" I denied obediently, flicking my feet a few more times to spite him.

"No miss, sorry miss, I won't say it again miss." He drawled out, grabbing my lower leg and bending it towards me to tickle my feet. I started squealing as the boat drew in, trying not to roll off the pier and get squished by it as the sailors clambered to moor it and the lone passenger waited to disembark. Denny dropped my leg and pulled his line in, huffing at the tiny fish that was twitching on the end of it. "This is your fault." He said as he dropped the fish onto my stomach. "And your boobs are leaking." Looking down at the fish, I saw my bikini had indeed leaked two big wet patches through my tank top on my chest. Not really bothered about it either way, I replied,

"They'll dry." I plopped the fish back into the sea and stood up, rolling my shoulders and pinwheeling my arms a few times to get the circulation flowing properly. Denny stood too, narrowly avoiding being hit by my flailing arms and smiled at the one man not in uniform on deck.

"Ahoy!" He called out, smiling his most infectious grin. The stranger grunted which caught my attention. I'd never seen that smile of Denny's be met by anything other than a pleasant greeting. Even the fisherman himself was taken aback slightly, but took it all in his stride, smile not dropping. I could see what Mirabelle meant when she said she needed someone buoyant. I definitely would have been huffing and frowning by now. Looking at the stranger in curiosity I took in his unique appearance. He was dressed head to toe in black apart from a brown vest, boots and a white neckerchief. Most of his skin was covered up from the sun's rays, but his face and what was visible of his neck and wrists was a very pale pink. His face was handsomely structured – jawline defined and nose straight, mauve eyes large and framed by silvery white lashes that matched the hair that hung from under his black Stetson. _Albino_ my brain provided as he scowled at the crewmen and moved to jump down to the pier. Both Denny and I were silent as we watched him move, in awe of his intimidating stature, and he was quite imposing, only…he went to step over the edge of the boat as if the fall was a lot shorter than it was and quite literally tumbled face first onto the dock below him. Denny burst out laughing as I went down under him and I heard a voice like out of old cowboy movies curse above me.

"Fuck's sake, _always assume it's lower than you think_." He seemed to be reprimanding himself. Climbing up off me, he adjusted his hat, pulling its rim down over his blushing face. He glared so hard at Denny that he actually stopped laughing – a true feat, indeed – and grumpily held out a hand for me to grab onto. I did so and he pulled me up and into him in one fell swoop, other arm flinging around my waist to steady me. He blushed harder and scowled at me when I looked up at him. _Man_ he was tall!

"Hi!" I greeted, not moving from the position we were in. I found myself suddenly pushed away at arm's length as the cowboy coughed and muttered something which might pass for a greeting if you squinted your eyes and tilted your head. "I'm Chelsea." I continued, sticking my hand out for him to shake, which he didn't, but he did mutter his name back.

"Vaughn." Because he was so set on not meeting my eyes, his gaze fell upon my chest instead and saw the leaks my bikini had made. I found myself on the end of a – dare I say it? – _amused_ look as his purple stare finally met my blue one. I blushed a bit, but puffed my chest out, not ashamed of something so trivial. He snorted, "Bird of paradise." and then snorted again at the double edged pun.

\- Vaughn -

The girl – _Chelsea_ – was grinning at me and I knew she had picked up on both meanings of my joke; her all puffed up like a bird of paradise, and then her literally being a woman – bird – on a paradisal island. She seemed pretty laid back for someone who had just been ploughed to the ground; I would have been fuming were it me…but then I guess I'm not the poster child for socially acceptable temper levels, am I?

The half-naked fisherman guy chose that moment to butt in and bumped Chelsea out of my poor line of vision.

"The name's Denny and I'm to be your tour guide for today." He greeted amicably. I felt my amused look morph into a glare again as I remembered how this guy had laughed at me when I fell off the boat. Maybe if it had happened to someone else it would be funny, but to me it was something I'd been dealing with all my life and hadn't yet managed to find the amusing side to. So I grunted again. He'd heard my name when I told it to Chelsea, there wasn't any need for me to waste my breath on repeating it to him. Undeterred, the guy shouldered his rod and started walking down the dock. "Let me just grab a shirt and I'll take you to Mirabelle's so you can dump your stuff." At the mention of it, the crap that I'd brought with me got shoved over the side of the boat and onto the pier next to me. At breakneck speed, the sailors were untying the boat and sailing away, leaving Chelsea and I to lug my bags towards the beach.

"So I'm the farmer round here." She said, her British accent automatically making her sound too distinguished to be doing something as laborious as farming. I kind of grunted in response, but internally I was relieved that it wasn't Denny. Constant socialisation was a big no with me anyway, but especially if the other party was someone like _Denny_. "Mirabelle sent Denny to greet you, but I bumped into him on the way." She continued. She hadn't struck me as a fill-the-silence type of gal, so I guessed that she was telling me this to hint at her specifically not being invited to meet me. But she didn't say anything else on the subject, so presumably she didn't really want to talk about it either. I'm pretty sure Julia thinks I'm socially inept – and maybe I'm not that great at the interacting side of things – but I damn sure know how to read people, never let it be said otherwise. We reached the beach in silence and I took in my surroundings as best I could in the bright light.

To my right was the shack that Denny had disappeared into and was now coming out of, stupid ass smile on his face and all. To my left was a far better constructed house and a large rock not too far away, sitting on the beach. Everything else was just beaten track and wild grasses, completely open and deserted.

"That's my house." Denny said, pointing at the barely-standing structure he'd emerged from. "And that's Gannon's. He's probably still sleeping though. Best not wake him – you'll get it when you see him. He's the carpenter round here – he built Mirabelle's house as well." _Did he build yours?_ I wanted to ask, but the striking difference in structure made the answer clear. It may have been funny to say, but I already knew the answer, so what was the point? I'm not here to impress. I heard a snort from my left and looked down to see Chelsea hiding a smile whilst looking at me slyly, amusement in her eyes. _I said that out loud, didn't I_?

We marched across the barren wasteland; Denny striding ahead as I carried two bags and Chelsea carried one, along with her rucksack. I was impressed with her strength, but frowned at Denny for not offering to carry something for either of us.

"So this is West town, and over that way is East town." Denny rattled off, pointing right where I could see a patch of land even more barren than the one we were standing on. "This is our first stop." he pushed open the door to a house with a horseshoe nailed to the door without even knocking. "Mirabelle, Julia! I have something for you!" Only Julia was already up and moving around the kitchen area, Mirabelle presumably out back prepping my room for me.

"Chelsea!" the blonde cried out moving to hug her.

"Bitch." I muttered, as Chelsea laughed.

"I'm not the present, Jules." She giggled, hugging my all-but-cousin quickly before pushing her back and turning the girl's shoulders to face me. Julia's nose wrinkled and Denny laughed, rubbing Chelsea's bandana a bit.

"But you're so much more aesthetically pleasing than he is." the fisherman chuckled at her ruffled look and I pulled my hat down, frowning, secretly just a _tiny_ bit hurt by his comment. I mean, Chelsea was gorgeous – there was no denying that – but my looks had always been a bit of a sore spot with me. Julia looked at me worriedly, knowing this, but I just shrugged one shoulder lightly. The guy liked making jokes at other people's expense. I'd already figured that out, so this wasn't really unexpected.

"Oh shove off." She said, pushing his hand away and trying to scoop some loose hair back under the fabric. "He's more aesthetically pleasing than you are." It was said in jest but it still made me feel a bit warm and stupidly pleased. I'd been complimented before by some stereotypical hick girls, but with all the grace you could expect from them, they'd quickly shot themselves in the foot. ' _You're real good lookin', ya know, considering ya got white hair 'n all.'_ I watched as Denny raised an eyebrow at Chelsea who blushed but raised one back in a challenge.

"Ma's just making your bed." Julia cut in before I could witness a clash of the stubborn. As if summoned, Mirabelle appeared around the corner of a corridor and into the kitchen.

"Oh, Vaughn!" She said as she rushed towards me and gathered me into her. She hadn't seen me in a while – maybe around 6 months – so I understood her need for a hug, but I still couldn't bear it for more than a few seconds before I started squirming.

"Aunt Bella." I said, prising myself out of her arms as she leaned back and patted me all over. I knew my skin was slightly sticky from sun cream, but then I knew that she was used to that so I pushed the insecurity out my mind. It was bright here on the island – less glare from windows and cars than the city had but more natural light – and there was more sun exposure, but I felt comforted by being around people who knew me and my history.

"We were just dumping his stuff before taking him round the island." Denny explained to my surrogate aunt. Mirabelle sent a glance my way.

"How long have you been outside, dear?" She asked, trying to be subtle. I figured my hair and eyes were about as subtle as a knife through the stomach, but some people just thought I had unusual colouring and left it at that. I checked my watch.

"'Bout an hour and a half." I drawled, hearing my accent twang and feeling Chelsea's gaze on my face as it did. Mirabelle tutted.

"Well that just won't do. Come, I'll show you your room and you can unpack a little bit, then you can go out later after a spot of lunch." I knew she just didn't want me out while the sun was at its highest, but she was pretty good at clucking about nonetheless. "Chelsea, dear, you follow me with that bag. Thank you for fetching him Denny but he'll be here for a while and I don't want to hold up your day." It was a politer dismissal than I was used to hearing, even from her, and Denny just smiled and went on his way, not even questioning why Mirabelle wasn't allowing me back outside for the next few hours.

Traipsing along obediently behind the woman, Chelsea spoke to me in hushed tones,

"Is it really tough for you in these sorts of climates?" I chanced a glance down at her, surprised at her courage to talk about my albinism so openly, but not really shocked she'd coined it for what it was. A lot of people skirted around the subject, or never asked any questions at all. Her direct approach made me feel uncomfortable, but I figured it'd lead to less embarrassing assumptions if I just answered the questions she had.

"I'm wearin' sun cream." I replied. "But the sun's pretty bright at noon and if I can avoid it, I will."

"Oh, of course." She responded, paused, then, "So Mirabelle's your aunt?" I could tell she was just making conversation, but the question made me tense a bit anyway.

"Not biologically." I left it at that and she thankfully dropped the subject, unlike a lot of people in my past. Maybe the Brits were better at knowing when to keep their noses out of things. We reached my room and I whistled as I looked around, letting out a quiet, "whew-wee" under my breath. It was done up in varying shades of black and gray with blackout blinds in the window. Every now and then there were some navy blue accents, but mostly everything was designed for the room to be as blissfully dark as I could hope for. "You've really outdone yourself, Aunt Bella, this is amazing." Chelsea moved into the room and placed the bag she was carrying on my new bed. I dumped the two I was holding next to it, and began to unzip one.

"I'll leave you two to it then." Mirabelle said, and I looked at her in alarm. She wasn't taking Chelsea with her? She met my gaze and I saw a sly smirk hint around her lips. She had heard us talking in the corridor then and was under the impression that I was making a _friend_. Brilliant. The door shut behind my aunt and I was left in the room alone with Chelsea.

Meanwhile, the girl in question had merrily climbed onto my bed and settled into the corner made by my wall and the wardrobe. She pulled a suitcase towards her and started unzipping it without a second thought. _Please don't be my underwear, please don't be my underwear, please don't be my underwear_.

"Wow, satin, Vaughn? Someone's a fancy cowboy." I blushed as she pulled out a pair of my dark purple satin boxer-briefs. She started rubbing the material and I snatched them from her, shoving them into my jacket pocket and grabbing the suitcase.

"Let's swap." I said, pushing the one I'd just opened and knew to contain a jumble of miscellaneous objects, along with a large stash of sun cream. She just grinned and started un-piling my shit, deftly jumping on and off the bed to place it wherever she felt it fit the best. I figured I could just rearrange it later if I didn't like it. We worked in silence for a while, only broken by the occasional huff from me when her monkey jumping messed up a pile of clothes I'd laid out to find space for.

"Mirabelle's really lovely." She broke the peace with. I grunted in affirmation. "I mean, it can't have been easy to get blackout curtains. It's not like Chen sells them or anything."

"Who?"

"Oh, he runs a sort of convenience type store. He's opposite Gannon's." I grunted again and silence reigned…until it didn't.

"I don't know why Mirabelle didn't want me to greet you. You're not so bad, and it only makes sense if the island's rancher meets the guy who's going to give her animals to ranch." I wasn't sure if that was the correct way to use the word, but I wasn't going to say anything. "I guess it really was just down to the fact that I caused a bit of a hullabaloo when I arrived here." Oh she wasn't done talking yet. Wait. Did she just –?

"You people actually use the word 'hullabaloo' in serious conversation?" The words were out before I could stop them, and my eyes were looking at her in bemusement without my commanding them. She grinned.

"You people actually say 'whew-wee' when you're impressed?" I snorted.

"Touché."

"And he knows French, too!" She gasped and I glared at her, but I think she could tell my heart wasn't in it as she started laughing. "Yer alright, Partner." She said in a _horrible_ impression of my accent. I zipped up the last of the empty bags and shoved it under my bed with the others before straightening up.

"Don't you got somewhere else to be? Away from me?" I asked, taking my hat off and hanging it on the bed knob after drawing the blinds down and turning on the dim desk lamp I'd been provided. I couldn't really see in the lighting I'd created, but I thought maybe Chelsea looked a bit hurt at my words.

"Right, yeah, sorry." She said, suddenly springing into action. "You must be pretty tired and all, so yeah, I'll just go back to mine. Let me know if you need a tour guide or something. The ranch is just north of here." My eyes were wide at her rambling and I realised belatedly that I probably _had_ upset her, but I couldn't get a word in edge ways to stop it. "It was nice meeting you, bye!" And then she was gone. And I thought _I_ was known for abrupt exits.

Looking around the room, I saw that the way she'd unpacked everything and placed it actually made sense. Almost in a panic, I looked around for something to move, but everything was put exactly where I'd have put it myself. I didn't come to this island to make _friends_ , but it seemed that I'd unwittingly acquired one. Even if I had just somehow chased her out the house. Damn I wasn't good at this shit.

 **Chapter End.**

 **A/N: Just a note to say that this is a completed fic and I'll be posting it in instalments as I go over and edit the chapters.**

 **I hope you enjoyed chappie 1; 2 coming soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2.**

\- Chelsea -

I decided to back off for a few days to let Vaughn settle in and decided to spend the rest of the day and week extreme fishing to get a bit of extra cash. I was planning on asking Gannon the next day to build me a chicken coop and then the following day to build me a barn, so I knew I was going to be blowing a lot of money in one fell swoop.

Thursday was a blisteringly hot day, so I dressed extra skimpily whilst sitting out in the sun fishing, planning on leaving way before the boat arrived to avoid unwanted attention from the crew.

"So that Vaughn's something, isn't he?" Denny greeted as he sat next to me on the beach where I'd retreated to to eat the lunch I'd packed for myself. I just shrugged.

"He's pretty quiet, that's for sure."

Denny hummed. "Pretty good looking." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"You interested?"

"Nah, I like my men less rough around the edges." Denny laughed and after looking at him for a few seconds I decided I didn't care if he was joking or not.

"Just don't try steal Elliot from Julia." Is all I said on the matter. Denny snorted, then brought the conversation back round to Vaughn.

"No, but for real, he seems like a good guy." His eyebrow was raised in question and I realised that Denny was trying to hook _me_ up, not himself. A quick mental picture of Denny and Vaughn holding hands and walking down the beach flashed before my eyes and I found myself attacked by a sudden laughing fit. "It's not that funny." Denny pouted. "I think you'd be cute together." I grinned at the fisherman.

"I'm not laughing at that." An image of Denny pouting and playing up his hurt to Vaughn, batting his lashes with his chin resting on his hands followed the previous one and I had to hold back my giggles. "But it's a moot point anyway. I don't need a man in my life right now – I'm about to get some animals and we've got a fair few festivals coming up this summer. And even then, does Vaughn really strike you as the relationship type of person?"

"Maybe not." Denny conceded, "But then, we barely know the guy. He might be the perfect boyfriend. And even if he's not a relationship person, there are always exceptions to the rules and hey, you might _make_ him one."

"I'm not going to _make_ him anything he isn't, Den." I frowned. "You don't just try and make people something else because what they are doesn't suit your preferences." I sighed at how hot tempered my words were, reminding myself that the people on the island were a lot more easy going than those I knew back in London. Not everyone had a twisted past, not everyone had two meanings to all the words they said, not everyone took life so damn _seriously_. I stood up, brushing off my legs and grabbing the basket I'd brought with me that morning to dump my fish in. It was nearly overflowing now and I decided to get out of the heat for a while and go ship it before finding Gannon. Obviously I was getting a bit cranky.

"Jeez, Chelsea." Denny was laughing as he stood next to me. "I know that. I was just saying that people change when they like someone – try to become a better person and all that." I didn't hear a thing of what he said because I had turned around before he started speaking and spotted the man of the hour standing about two metres away, blushing and desperately tugging on his hat. _Great_ , I thought, _how much did he hear_? Putting on a smile I walked towards him. Denny waved but moved in the opposite direction to fish from the dock. _Traitor_.

"Morning, Vaughn!" I greeted as brightly as I could.

"Afternoon." He drawled, his accent drawing out the second syllable. His voice did something funny to me, I swear. Freaking cowboys.

"You settle in alright?" I asked, pausing for a second next to him. I had every intention of just saying hi, making nice, then running away to blush in peace, and thought I'd get away with it as his only reply was a curt nod. Before I could start moving again though, he spoke.

"You mean what you said?" I frowned, thinking back.

"Of course." I nodded. "So long as you're not running around killing people, you're not doing anything wrong and people don't have the right to try to make you be something else just to become more _socially acceptable_ or some such rot." He gave me the tiniest of nods and tugged on his hat again. The silence stretched a bit and I shifted. It hadn't felt awkward the day before, but now after knowing that he may have overheard Denny trying to set me up with him, I just wanted to get out of there. "Alright, well. I'll see you around. I'm about to go get Gannon to build me a coop and a barn so I'll be in need of your services pretty soon." I started walking, but before I got far, he called out.

"Sorry for er, fallin' on you, before. I have trouble with depth perception sometimes." I smiled and looked over my shoulder.

"No need to apologise." I called back. "See you, Partner!" And then I all but ran to West town, upturning the fish into the iced compartment of the shipping bin.

I went home for a little while, putting away some fish I'd kept in my rucksack and setting some herbs to simmer in a pot for soup. Grabbing myself a cup of chilled herbal tea I'd put in the fridge that morning, I went and sat outside on an old tree stump. Looking around my field I felt pride well up inside my chest. I'd recently bought some new seeds from Chen – his stock was boasting onion seeds which I gladly took on, and now my field was tilled (around the tree stumps and rocks which I couldn't get rid of yet) and full of corn sprouts which were already taller than I am, tomato vines which were bearing some massive tomatoes and tiny little shoots of onions. I envisioned a chicken coop with lots of chickens running around outside, pecking at the grass and a barn with a few cows, maybe some sheep, all frolicking in the sun. For the first time since crashing on this island, I felt grateful for this opportunity. I'd never forget how lucky I was to be sitting here under the sun, rather than under the sand, but I was going to make the crew's sacrifice worth it; I was going to revitalise this land and surpass its former glory.

Finishing my tea, I hopped off the stump, put the cup back in the sink and turned the heat down on my soup. Time to find Gannon and get a chicken coop construction going!

~.oOo.~

Saturday morning saw me all but skipping to Mirabelle's shop. Gannon had finished the barn the night before and the coop the day previously and both were _perfect_! I'd also harvested my second lot of tomatoes that summer, and they were even better than the ones I'd done back in June. Walking into the shop front, I all but sang out,

"Morning!" To the room.

"Morning, Chelsea." Julia sang back at me, bustling around with stacking the bags of feed kept behind the counter. Mirabelle was doing some morning inventory behind the till and I craned my neck around the room looking for a cowboy.

"Where's Vaughn?" I asked, moving to stand in front of Mirabelle seeing as I'd need feed for the animals regardless of whether the animal dealer was awake to give me them.

"Oh, didn't he tell you? He's only here on Wednesdays and Thursdays." Julia said, dumping the last bag of feed on the pile, then twisting to pop her spine. She sat down on a smaller pile and wiped her forehead.

"Does Vaughn ever tell anyone much of anything?" I replied, disappointed I wouldn't be able to get any animals for another fortnight. Julia laughed her tinkling laugh. "Well, if I've got time to re-earn it, I might as well blow all this money on feed then." I sighed, dumping a bag of money on the counter. "How much can I get?"

"Including the milker and brush you'll need, you can get…" she trailed off, typing some numbers into her calculator. "Well, dear, if you split the remainder evenly and spend _all_ of it…you can get 225 bags of chicken feed and 112 bags of fodder."

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." Julia groaned. "That sounds like a bad math question. I refuse to be the manpower behind the operation that'll get all that from here to the ranch. You'll just have to wait for Vaughn to get back and let him do all the heavy work." I laughed.

"Do you have that all in stock, Mirabelle?" I asked. She looked down at her inventory sheet and nodded. "I'll do the transport myself then, it's fine. I've got an old wheelbarrow on the farm, I'll just spread it out over the course of the next few days if that's alright with you?" I stuck my tongue out at Julia. "That way princess doesn't have to break a nail."

"Oh that's just fine and dandy." Mirabelle said, already putting my money away in the till and amending her inventory lists. "I'll just set them aside out in the barn for you so you can come and go as you please without worrying about disturbing us."

"Ta, Mirabelle." I turned to Julia. "I'm going to grab the 'barrow and do a run now, but then I'm going to Taro's to check up on the weather. Wanna come with?" She went pink and grinned, nodding enthusiastically. I'd discovered pretty quickly after she moved in that she had a thing for Elliot. I'd been worried after my breakdown that Elliot may have become attached to me – not necessarily romantically, but protectively enough to be confused for it – but the moment Julia walked into the room any possible torch he could have ever held for me was immediately extinguished in the light of the beauty that Julia was. Of course the poor lad hadn't yet had the courage to ask her out, even though they'd been dancing around each other for two months now. Julia was pretty old-school when it came to romance – she liked to be wooed, have the guy making the first moves and paying for dates and all that. Which therefore meant that they were both still single because Elliot was a pretty nervy guy and Julia's looks were intimidatingly gorgeous. "I'll be back in a bit then." I winked at her before setting off for my farm.

At least this way I had time to think up of good names for my animals.

~.oOo.~

Over the next few days I wondered if someone had broken Taro. Every time I went to ask him about the weather he came out with the same thing:

"My gut's telling me it'll be sunny tomorrow."

It was true though – we were in the middle of a heat wave, every day as hot as or hotter than the last, and I found myself feeling jealous of Vaughn who no doubt was shaded in the city and surrounded by air con. I dutifully watered my crops twice a day, thinking they really needed it in the current heat, and made several trips to and from Mirabelle's to gather up feed. I tried to fit in a fair amount of fishing as well to keep the money flowing and found it to be my only reprieve in a blur of constant motion, though sitting out under the sun with the glare hitting me off the ocean wasn't very restful.

Life was pretty routine, so much so that I wasn't even keeping track of what day it was, or what time it was or anything really past the fact that it was summer because you just couldn't escape the _heat_. The UK is in a temperate zone; the highest we normally hit in the summer was around 20C-26C on a good day. We were probably hitting 34C on _average_ right now and everyone could tell I was struggling. Denny would bring along an extra bottle of water for me every day so I wouldn't pass out whilst fishing, and Julia would do a couple of the feed and fodder runs for me so I didn't overexert myself. Even Natalie would come along and take my basket of fish, empty it for me, then bring it back sometimes. They could all tell I was a woman on a mission and not to be messed with – I _needed_ the island to be rejuvenated. I'd had Gannon rebuild the bridge to the forest which only left the jungle to be explored, and I'd upgraded a couple of the roads in East town. A diner and café had been built in East town and an influx of people had arrived to live on the island. Denny was actually becoming a bit of a star in the eyes of all the fishermen who had moved in – we'd already had a few of them, but they had only been steadily increasing over the past month. Due to all the new people, Taro and Gannon got together and decided we might be in need of an Inn. Poor Gannon had been working almost without rest for an entire week. Once the Original Inn had been constructed, a whole load of the older generation had stormed the island as well, followed by a couple of younger people as well. All in all, I had been a busy bee indeed, so I shouldn't have been surprised when it all eventually caught up to me.

As it was, I was wheeling my barrow full of fodder and feed from Mirabelle's one day when I found the world spinning around me. I tried to steady myself, dropping the wheelbarrow and leaning on it, but looking down only made things worse and before I knew it I had a tinny noise in my ears, nauseous feeling in my stomach and then I was falling. The world went black.

~.oOo.~

"Of all the stupid, irresponsible things to do." God, shut up. "It's literally part of your job description, Julia, why weren't you doing it for her?" My head is _killing_ me.

"I _was_ helping her! She ordered _hundreds_ of feed bags, Vaughn!"

"A hundred bags will just about get a full coop through one season, it's not that unreasonable of an order, _Julia_. At least we know the animals won't be goin' hungry."

I groaned a little in the hopes that the voices would just _hush up_ and let me sleep some more.

"Chelsea?" one of the voices – _Julia_ , my mind provided – said. I groaned again and tried to open my eyes. The room I was in was blissfully dark and cool. My eyes slid shut again, tired.

"The fuck?" I tried to ask. I heard a snort then a soft thump as someone sat down in the chair at the desk.

\- Vaughn -

"I found you passed out in ya own wheelbarrow." I answered her half formed question.

Christ it had all but given me a heart attack. Well, not quite. At first I'd thought she was just slumped over for dramatic effect, but then when she didn't look up when my shadow fell on her, nor respond when I said her name, I started panicking. She was face down in a pile of fodder and only God knew how long she'd been like that. It was hardly easy to breathe through hay and just because your mind was gone didn't mean your body stopped sweatin' and dehydratin' when left in the sun. So I'd shoved the rest of her body into the barrow and pushed her back to Mirabelle's to find Julia sitting on the couch, calm as anythin', _painting her nails_. I'd snapped at her to get some water, grabbed Chelsea and taken her to my room, Julia following meekly with a glass. I'd ordered her to get more and then pulled the blinds and grabbed a flannel, dipping it in the water and dabbing Chelsea's face with it. Then I'd turned on the fan and laid into Julia about being a _moronic child_ who was too lazy to do her _own bloody job_ which was to _transport feed_ from Mirabelle's to the farm. I didn't care if she'd been doing a few runs for Chelsea – the farmer shouldn't have been doing _any_ of them – she should have been concentrating on the farm solely.

Speaking of; the island looked like a different place when I'd arrived this morning. I didn't realise so much could change in just a week, but from the looks of it Gannon had been working his ass off to get it done. The barren wasteland that was East town now had a diner and a café and the foundations of another building already being built. The roads in West town were paved and new, and there was a huge-ass inn sitting up by the road to Chelsea's farm. The crappy old bridge that had been dangling off the cliff between the mainland and the forest had been fixed as well and there were people just wanderin' around, happy as Larry to be there.

Chelsea snorted. "Graceful." I snorted back and stood up, walking over to the bed and perching on the edge. Chelsea scooted over in response and tried to sit up. I reached out and helped to prop her up against the wall, Julia swooping in and pressing one of the glasses of water into her hand.

"We're pretty sure you had a bad bout of heatstroke." She said, moving to sit at the foot of the bed. "You're lucky you didn't throw up." I glared at Julia who looked only slightly guilty at being part of the reason Chelsea was currently bed-bound.

"Bloody tropical weather." Chelsea cussed and I huffed in laughter again. I don't know what it was about her that made me feel so amused all the time – maybe I was attracted to grumps, birds of a feather and all… - but I couldn't seem to hold it back when I was around her. "How many bags of feed do I have to go, Jules?" She asked, draining the second glass of water. I stood up to go refill it and stumbled across Aunt Bella in the kitchen.

"How's she doing?" She asked as she bustled around making lunch.

"She's awake." I said curtly. Turning the tap and watching the water swirl into the glass. I didn't understand why I _cared_ so damn much. I literally barely knew this girl.

"She's good for you, you know." I refocused to see the water was overflowing and running down my hands, soaking my gloves. Cussing, I turned the tap off and took off my gloves. "Anyone that makes you lose focus like that is a blessing, Vaughn."

"I'm really so grateful for people who ruin my clothes, yes." I replied sarcastically, tipping out some water from the glass and then turning to face Aunt Bella who was looking at me with an uncomfortably fond look in her eye. "What?" I grouched.

"It's just so lovely to see you come out your shell with someone other than Julia and I." She replied. "I can tell that you're real fond of this girl." I scowled and shook my head in denial. "Vaughn." Her voice was serious. "When Julia was sick last year, you refused to do a damn thing for her unless I begged you to." I remembered that. It had been a pretty tense time. There hadn't even been a good reason why I didn't want to help – I just didn't give a fuck seeing as the girl wasn't dying.

"And?" I ground out, wanting to escape to my room, edging towards it as I thought of it.

"Well you've just come in and got that girl a glass of water without a single instruction, and Julia told me she saw you wiping her face earlier." Damn gossip. "You care for her." My scowl deepened and Mirabelle reached out and took my hand before I could get to the corridor that led to my room. "Vaughn. It's okay. It's a good thing." I felt like a child with the tone she used on me. I knew of course, _theoretically_ , that caring for people wasn't awful, but in _practice_ it rarely led to rainbows and happiness.

"Sure, Aunt Bella." I agreed just to get her to let go. The moment she did, I scarpered back to my room.

"You should have seen him, Chelsea. I've never seen him so panicked before, it was real frightening. Adorable now, looking back, but at the time…" I heard Julia talking to Chelsea and silently groaned to myself. _Damned gossip!_

"Really?" Chelsea asked, not sounding disbelieving, just curious. "I can't picture it."

"Well you haven't really known him long, have you?" There was a pause where I presume Chelsea shook her head. "So you wouldn't be able to imagine it. But then, that's what's so strange – he barely knows you but he already seems incredibly attached." I felt myself blush furiously. What was she _doing_? Chelsea laughed nervously.

"Not you as well." She said, sounding a bit tired. "Denny's already taken me down this road, Julia. Vaughn just doesn't seem the… _type_ , y'know?" I heard movement and could envision Julia wriggling as excited as her tone in her next words,

"But no, he _is_ , he so _totally_ is. Give him a chance, he's grouchy I know but he's real sweet underneath it and a _total_ gentleman." Was she – were they – was I being _pimped off_ by _Julia_?

"Julia!" Chelsea cried softly, sounded exasperated and I nodded in agreement with her annoyance. "I'm not going to have _time_ for all that – I'm getting animals now, and I've got things to forage and places to explore and an income to make to fix that last bridge. I'm going to be _busy._ " That last point caught me off guard. _Chelsea_ was the one paying for all the upkeep of the island? Wasn't that a bit unfair? I mean, I know that the farmer was probably making the most, but it's not like everyone else on the island weren't making any money, they could chip in at least.

"Shouldn't y'all be helping out with the funding?" I asked as I walked in, directing my question at Julia. Chelsea looked a bit embarrassed at being overheard, but I guess she thought I'd only heard the last bit so she didn't seem too abashed. Julia didn't even look one ounce contrite, instead she raised an eyebrow at me as if trying to make me feel guilty for listening in.

"It's alright, Vaughn." Chelsea said when Julia didn't answer. "I knew it was in my job description when I signed up to it. And I like the responsibility." I just grunted a bit, and put the glass I was holding down on the bedside table. Chelsea took a few sips gratefully then yawned. I looked at Julia.

"Out."

"Oh, no, it's fine, I can make it back to mine." Chelsea said before yawning again. I just shook my head and folded my arms. There was no way in hell I was letting her out this house again until the sun had set. I of all people know the dangers of the star.

"Nope." I said, popping the 'p'. "Out." I repeated to Julia. Maybe I sounded like a Neanderthal, speaking in one syllable words, but I didn't care. I had some paperwork to do anyway, so Julia needed to _go_.

"It's alright, Chelsea, you stay here and have a nap. I'm going to go next door, so I'll see you later." I rolled my eyes. Shirking her responsibilities to go and see the nerd again, I see. She shut the door behind her and the room descended into silence. I turned on my desk lamp and started shuffling through the papers stacked there.

"Thank you." Came a sleepy voice from behind me. "For saving me and looking after me so well." I glanced over my shoulder, feeling my cheeks go pink.

"Don't mention it. Please." I replied. "It weren't nothing personal." I half expected her to get upset at me again, but apparently she'd wised up a bit when it came to me 'cause she just smiled and plumped my pillow up.

"Whatever you say, Partner." I rolled my eyes again and turned back to my work, leaning close to it to be able to see it.

"Go to sleep, cowgirl."

Deep breathing reached my ears from my bed and a smile crept upon my face unbidden. I felt at peace.

A couple of hours passed and I figured I should wake the sleeping farmer lest she not be able to sleep tonight. The sun wasn't down yet, but she'd probably be well enough to make it up the path by now. Plus, I had a surprise for her. I walked over and crouched by her head. Her face was all slack with sleep and I'm pretty sure my pillow looked a bit damp next to where her mouth was gaping open.

"Chelsea." I said, not wanting to touch her if I didn't have to. Physical contact with people only ever led to _complications_. She grumbled a bit and shifted. "Chelsea." I repeated and her eyes began to flutter open. "Chels." One hand wormed out from under my duvet to wipe at her eyes and she stretched, moving to sit up. "How you feelin'?" I felt obliged to ask.

"That's the first time you've used my name." I'd actually called her by her name when I found her in her wheelbarrow, but I wasn't going to waste my breath explaining that, so I shrugged instead, waiting for her to answer. She sipped some more water and stood up experimentally. "Better actually. A lot better, thanks." I stood, too and walked out my room, assuming she'd follow. The house was deserted once we reached the living room, so I kept going towards a door that I knew led into the barn area. Walking in, I heard Chelsea gasp behind me.

"Oh! I thought I'd have to ask you this week and wait til next before I could get any!" She cried as she approached the three chicks that were huddled in one corner of the barn, eyeing the two cows on the other side warily.

"Well you mentioned that you were gonna be gettin' a barn and a coop, so I took the liberty of bringin' back some inhabitants for ya." I went to tug my hat down before remembering I'd left it behind. Strange. I usually only left it off when I was in my room as it helped with the glare from overhead lights as well. Chelsea looked up with warm eyes and beckoned me over to where she was sat cross legged.

"That was really sweet of you, Vaughn. Thank you." She tugged my wrist and I sat down next to her. One of the chicks sprinted over to me and I picked her up, stroking her tiny head with the tip of my finger. Chelsea watched carefully, then tried to mimic me with the chick nearest her. "Am I holding her right? I've never cared for anything other than house pets before." She asked, worriedly.

"You can't really go wrong with chicks." I assured her. "Feed 'em, pet 'em, don't let wild dogs get 'em." She put down the one she was holding and picked up the other one, stroking and cooing at it.

"I don't know which one I should choose." She said as I handed her the one I'd been holding.

"This one's my favourite." I told her, even though I knew I shouldn't have favourites. She smiled.

"You hear that little one? You're Vaughn's favourite. That means quite a lot." I blushed as she talked to the chick. "If I get her does that mean you'll be upset with me or does that mean you'll come visit me more?" She asked, looking at me out the corner of her eyes. I coughed.

"I won't be upset with you." She beamed.

"Then I choose this one!" She declared. "I'm going to call her Aras." I raised an eyebrow at her and she blushed. "I may have done some research into names the past few days." She mumbled. "Aras means 'the intelligence of an eagle'." I looked at her, then at the chick, then back at her. Was she for real? It's a _chicken_. I snorted, then I coughed, then somehow I started laughing because chickens may be nice and all but even I knew that most of them were as thick as a plank of wood and _oh this is so rich_.

\- Chelsea -

I stared bewildered at the sight of Vaughn laughing in front of me. His eyes were scrunched up into slits and his mouth was wide and smiling and he looked, to be frank, _gorgeous._ This hadn't been a sight I'd been even slightly prepared for and I didn't know if I should be feeling like a cat that got the cream at making him laugh, or offended because he was laughing at my name for Aras. At that point, one of the other chicks pecked the other and it cheeped and ran into the bottom of the feed dispenser and suddenly I found myself laughing as well. It ended almost as abruptly as it started – with Vaughn seemingly suddenly becoming aware of where he was and coughing. His hand twitched up again and I was suddenly grateful he didn't have his hat to hide behind.

"You should smile more." I said before I could control the words. He looked at me curiously. "You're more approachable when you smile." I shrugged, feeling embarrassed.

"I don't much care if people don't wanna approach me." He drawled, standing up and I winced at my minced meaning.

"But _I'd_ like to see you smile." I clarified, standing up as well. He spun around on his heel and I almost trod on the chickens as I jumped at our proximity.

"You mean it?" He asked, looking like my answer was very important indeed. I wondered what sort of life he'd had if he always had to check that I meant what I said when I said something nice about him. I nodded, wide-eyed. He blushed and looked down – which was when I realised that he'd actually been meeting my gaze a lot today, compared to last week when he couldn't get his eyes to look above my nose.

"Well darn." He said under his breath and I just about melted. "No one's ever said that to me before."

"Seriously?" I asked and our roles reversed as he nodded in reply. My Dad had always told me to keep smiling when I was a kid, because _when you smile, Chelsea, the whole world smiles with you_. "That's awful." I murmured. He stiffened and pulled back from the position we were in.

"I don't need pity." He said curtly and moved to turn away. Panicked, I grabbed his wrist. Christ, things with him always did 180s in a split second.

"I'm not pitying you." I said. "I just think it's a shame that so few people have been graced with that pretty little smile of yours." I made sure to smile myself to let him know I was teasing. "All the more for me, I guess." I sighed as if it were a great inconvenience. I was rewarded with a small smile from him and I laughed joyously. "That's right, you just keep practising, Partner. Now how much do I owe you for the chick?"

"On the house." He grunted, moving over to the cows and patting a pure white one on her rump. "This one, too." I gaped at him.

"No, no, no, I couldn't. They're expensive and this is your income!" He shrugged.

"I've talked to Mirabelle about it." He replied as if that was all the explanation he needed to give, and perhaps it was. If Mirabelle was encouraging it, then it couldn't leave them with too big a dent in their wallets.

"Well then," I gathered my scattered thoughts. "I guess I'll call her Guinevere." He raised his eyebrow again and I jutted out my chin stubbornly. I was proud of my name choosing skills and he could suck it if he had a problem with it. "She's white, so she's called Guinevere." He smirked and held his hands up in an 'I surrender' position and just started leading her out the barn doors onto the road.

"Go grab your eagle-chick." He called as Gwen ambled out the door and I dashed off to grab Aras before catching up to him. He paused and looked at the sky briefly.

"Do you want your hat…?" I asked tentatively. He looked at me wide eyed, but shook his head and I figured he'd be able to cope for the quick trip to and from the shop and my farm. The sun was pretty low in the sky now, and there was a cool breeze coming through to soothe my sensitised skin. We walked up the road to my farm and I chanced a glance up at him, only to find him already looking down at me. Blushing, I focussed on migrating Gwen around my field rather than through the centre of my crops, and deposited her and Aras in their respective homes, scattering some feed for them as Vaughn watched on.

Whew. What a day.

~.oOo.~

\- Vaughn -

The next day I woke up to find a book on the kitchen table with a sticky note on top with my name written on it. Eyebrow raised, I peeled off the note and looked at the title.

" _101 Pet Names_ " it read. I hung my head and shook with silent laughter as I reached the avian section and found 'Aras' circled. That girl was going to be the end of me.

Once I'd seen to the remaining livestock and done some paperwork, I spent the evening reading through the book, trying to guess which names she would pick for any other animals she bought from us. Julia probably thought I'd finally lost it but I'm only mildly ashamed to say I read it from cover to cover.

 **Chapter End.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3.**

\- Chelsea -

August came in with rainstorms and I woke up to the sound of the drops pinging off my roof often. On one such morning in the second week of the month, I smiled as I woke to the soothing sound. Sighing in pleasure I rolled over, knowing I could afford to sleep for another couple of hours; the rain taking care of my watering for me. I squinted over at my calendar to see what day it was, then felt my eyes widen as it registered that it was a Wednesday. I surged out of bed and rushed to get ready. I'd bought myself an umbrella after the first week of rain so I grabbed it now as I ran under the shelter of my corn to my barn. I still only had Gwen, but I'd bought another chicken – this one called Arlette purely for the smile I knew it would get out of Vaughn. I spent an hour in the barn brushing down Gwen and milking her, before darting across to the coop. I straightened any askew feathers of its inhabitants and cooed at them for a short while, before scattering some feed and collecting the eggs they'd laid for me. Dashing out through the rain I carefully placed one of the eggs in my fridge and the milk in my rucksack, putting the other egg in the shipping box as I rushed past.

I reached Mirabelle's at around 9AM, and all but flung myself inside the building. And there he was – leaning up against the wall trying to look all suave and cool with his arms crossed and one foot up against the wood behind him.

"Howdy, Partner!" I greeted, pulling the milk out my bag and hiding it behind my back. I did this twice a week every week, so it wasn't a surprise anymore, but he played along.

"Howdy, cowgirl!" He replied mockingly, taking the milk I presented with a flourish with his ever present blush. It hit me every time we did this how sometimes we just seemed so on the same wavelength, we had this sort of _thing_ that meant we could tell the general gist of what the other person met just by looking at each other. Nothing crazy like 'we can look into each other's eyes and tell the other's very thoughts' but we know when we've both picked up on the same thing that we find funny or stupid or something.

For example, the first Thursday of August, Julia had come screeching into the room about Elliot finally asking her out on a date. Admittedly it had been a request to be her date to the _chicken festival_ but still, it seemed enough to satisfy Julia's requirements. In any case, without a single scoff, I had met Vaughn's eyes over Julia's head and had instantly known how stupid he thought a) Elliot was for asking a girl out to a chicken festival and b) Julia was for getting so excited over it. I'd agreed to some level and we'd smirked at each other, but then I'd shaken my head in a reprimand and he had faked a glare. I remember the entire thing to a stupid amount of detail. That had been two weeks ago and I'd known Vaughn for just over month and a half now. No grand event had happened such as me passing out in my wheelbarrow again, but I'd been steadily chipping away at his awkward presence and I think he'd really warmed up to me; he actually speaks relatively regularly now. Y'know, for him. I've no idea why he chose me to be friendly with – after I discovered that mining was an easier way to make money than fishing, I'd spent more time up the mountain than on the beach. This led to two things:

1\. A one hit wonder pop star called Lanna moved in without me even noticing until she'd been here half a week.

2\. A girl, Sabrina, and her father, Regis, had moved in, the presence of whom I only noticed due to the ma-hu-ssive mansion they'd had Gannon slave away at for days in East town.

In any case, it had been made pretty clear on the first day that Vaughn and Sabrina were on the island at the same time that Sabrina had an itty bitty giant fat crush on Vaughn. My hackles had rose at first (is it not obvious by now that I'm schoolgirl style crushing on Vaughn big time?) but I'd been (unknowingly on his part) appeased by his complete and utter lack of interest in her. The poor girl had really tried with all her awkward social skills, but for some reason Vaughn had stayed as tight as a clam and basically ignored her or flat out told her to piss off. I felt sorry for her because for reasons unknown I'd never been on the receiving end of _that_ Vaughn, but it was becoming clearer and clearer with every new person who moved to the island that that Vaughn was the Vaughn most people got greeted by. Denny and I were the only ones he seemed to give two shits about outside of Julia and Mirabelle, and I didn't really get it. I'm not looking for praise here; I know I'm a pretty friendly person, and generally that warrants making friends, but well…everyone else on the island is friendly as well (apart from Regis and probably Natalie) so I just don't get why I was one of the Chosen Ones. Not that I'm complaining.

"Aras and Arlette told me to tell you they miss you." I said, waiting for him to connect the dots. I'd bought Arlette last Friday – she had been one of the original three chicks from last month (I'm pretty sure she was the one that pecked the other chick, causing it to walk into the feed dispenser) – and though he probably knew I'd bought her due to inventory, he didn't know what I'd called her. I could practically see him consult his inner name-dictionary and once it hit "tiny little eagle" he lost it. We could both tell it was coming before it did, and unfortunately for me he had his hat on this time which he promptly pulled off his head and over his face as he burst out laughing. The sound was muffled slightly, but it still sounded gorgeous to me and I grinned proudly at having caused it.

A polite cough reached my ears and I suddenly remembered that Mirabelle was behind the till and Julia had been sitting on the counter when I came in. I turned to look at them to see Mirabelle giving me this freaking eye-beam of warmth and fuzzy feelings, so I switched to see Julia staring at Vaughn with her jaw slack. Vaughn quietened down at the cough and slid his hat back onto his head, peeking out from under the rim slightly; blush ever-present on his face. He was obviously trying to cool his expression, but his mauve eyes were twinkling at me and my stomach was flipping whilst my heart was doing this weird boom-thud thing against my ribcage.

"Well you can tell Aras and Arlette -" he almost lost control at the latter name, "that I'll come visit them soon." I grinned like a sap at him and my heart boom-thudded again because _jesus_ it should be illegal to give someone a gaze that intense whilst saying words in that equally shouldn't-be-legal accent. Suddenly all I could focus on was how tall he was and how strong his arms must be and how I wanted to feel them around me and – _no_. Inappropriate thoughts stop _now_. I whirled around to face Julia, feeling my ears burn red.

"So how're things with Elliot?" I asked, ignoring Mirabelle's knowing gaze because that brought thoughts I just did not need to have. It was enough to derail Julia's line of thought though because she sighed dreamily and beckoned me to follow her to their living room, Vaughn's derisive snort following us out. I looked at him and our brains did that thing again when I raised an eyebrow and he rolled his eyes and I grinned and it was like we'd had a conversation only without the words.

"I meant to tell you when I saw you on Monday," Julia was saying, "but I'm having a slumber party with the girls here."

"Oh? When?" I asked, making myself comfy and flipping on their TV just to see what was happening in the media world nowadays. I didn't have one on the farm.

"Tonight."

"Awesome, I'll be ther- wait, _tonight_? Given me much notice, Jules?" I looked at her and she smiled back angelically.

"I know, I'm sorry." She didn't look it. "But it's not like you ever do anything with your evenings anyway." She had a point there.

"Er, I _sleep_? Early rise means early set." She waved off my concerns.

"Taro's eyebrows or something are telling him it's going to be raining tomorrow, so you don't have to get up early."

"His big toe." I corrected. Julia snapped her mouth shut and looked at me, confused.

"What?"

"Not his eyebrows, his big toe." We blinked at each other. "Don't ask how I know that. Alright fine, I'll come. Who else is gonna be here?"

She beamed at me. "Well, Natalie of course, and Lanna seeing as we barely know her. I did ask Sabrina but she said no. She has to…sit in her room or something. I didn't ask." Coming from someone else that last bit would have sounded bitchy, but coming from Julia made me believe that Sabrina genuinely had turned her down so she could spend the evening alone instead. Which was fair enough if she didn't want to come.

"Okay." I paused. "And what did any of that have to do with Elliot?"

"Well we're going to talk about _boys_ of course!" She said as if I was being purposefully thick.

"Of course." I repeated slowly, looking up and meeting Vaughn's gaze again. He grinned – something I'd only seen twice before, though his smaller smiles were increasing in frequency – and tipped his hat. I wondered if he did it because he knew I didn't put as much weight into gossiping about boys as Julia did, or because he knew I'd be fulfilling my part of the gossip with him as my subject matter. I was suddenly glad that Sabrina wasn't going to be here. "Right, well. I guess I have evening plans now. I'm going to go back to mine and pack some stuff up then, I suppose."

"No need to sound so confident." Vaughn muttered to me as I walked past him and I elbowed him in the sternum.

"Shut up." Mirabelle was still looking like she wanted to adopt me, so I hurriedly returned to the pelting rain and left Vaughn to handle the fall out.

\- Vaughn -

"You _like_ her, you want to _date_ her, you want to _marry_ her." Julia sung as she twirled around me in circles right there in the shop front. Aunt Bella was doing fuck all about it, just laughing joyfully as if I'd just told her I was engaged and expecting a child or something.

"Fuck off, Julia." I grouched, breaking out of her dance circle to try to get to my room. Alas, I didn't make it far. The witch grabbed my wrist and tugged me over to the weirdly sized loveseats that Julia calls a couch and Mirabelle calls an armchair.

"Seriously Vaughn." She said, looking me in the eye – something she would have struggled to get me to do a month and a half ago but that was back in BC time – Before Chelsea. "When are you going to ask her out?"

"What?!" I exclaimed, alarmed. I mean, yeah I was fond of Chelsea and she got to me like no one else did and maybe I liked her as more than a friend – which was hard to tell anyway seeing as I didn't _have_ friends – but I simply didn't _do_ relationships, I didn't _do_ social interaction altogether and the concept of a date was like my worst nightmare – blowing all my money on an outing I'm likely not to enjoy just to sit and _talk_ to someone for hours on end, holding hands and making goo-goo eyes at one another – it all sounded like hell. No, the concept of a date was terrifying, the concept of a date with _Chelsea_ was…was…

 _holding hands so tight I could feel her pulse – or is it my pulse? – in our fingers…her accent turning my name from 'arn' to 'orn'…her talking about anything she wanted to just so I could watch her in animation…or her not talking at all; just being a presence at my side and feeling so right for being there…me holding doors for her and pulling out chairs and her rolling her eyes because I don't need to do that with her but she loves it anyway and blushes, approving of my manners…me walking her home at night and her not finding it weird because we're both used to city life and then we reach her door and we don't kiss because we're both too scared for that, but she's brave enough to wrap her arms around my neck and hug me and mine come up around her waist like that split second we experienced when we first met…_

Well shit. The concept of a date with Chelsea was actually pretty darn good. But like hell I was going to tell Julia that.

"I don't do relationships, Julia. Leave it."

"But -"

" _Leave_ it." I growled, then stormed out as best I could with my thoughts whirling around my head. I'd been vaguely aware of the what-some-might-call flirtatious manner of my friendship with Chels, but I'd never really put much weight on it because, well. The first time I'd met her I'd seen her be tickled by some guy who was half-naked. I figured she was just one of those people who teased a lot and harmlessly flirted with her friends, and I barely knew what flirting was in relation to me, so I wasn't the best judge to tell if I flirted back. I'd seen how touchy-feely she was with the other guys on the island and had just accepted that's the way she was, no questions asked. I knew for a fact that a couple cobs of corn had gone Elliot's way and that Denny frequently got given interesting fish she caught, so I hadn't questioned the presents either. And she was enthusiastic with everyone so…I guess I'd never stopped to think I had a chance with her; I'd never stopped to think I _wanted_ a chance with her. I'd overheard conversations but had never taken them any more seriously than Chelsea had seemed to. But now Julia had come along and fucking turned all that on its head. _Now_ I was imagining _dates_ with her and thinking about possibilities of a future and God damn that was terrifying in and of itself. I didn't even know if she liked me like that – I'd spent all this time chalking all her behaviour down to friendship that I didn't know what distinguished between friends and _more_ when it came to her actions. I don't think it's said enough that welcoming someone, not into your heart, but into your _mind_ is fucking petrifying. Because at this point, Chels had already wormed her way into my heart a lil' bit, but at some point she was going to expect to know things that she had no way of knowing unless _I_ tell her, and the thought of that made me so scared I fucked off the rest of the day and hid in my room until sunset.

~.oOo.~

\- Chelsea -

So Lanna, it turns out, came here for peace and fish. You can guess who she gets on with like a house on fire. Apparently my absence hadn't even been really noted with Denny as he'd been so pumped by having a friend to fish with that actually _knew_ stuff about fishing. I felt a little bit less guilty over all the time I'd spent fangirling over Vaughn, knowing now that he hadn't missed me.

We were all sat in our PJs in the taped off living room – yes, I said _taped off_ , only with sellotape rather than police tape. Julia had taken this "slumber party" thing to the extreme. Mirabelle was allowed in and out – if she ducked under the tape that is – but apparently Vaughn's presence was _strictly forbidden_. No boys allowed. I felt like I was in a treehouse with an angrily written sign put up outside rather than a 22 year old woman's sitting room, but hey ho, I go with the flow. So seeing as no boys were allowed in here, what was the one thing we were talking about?

"There's a new guy in town and he's pretty cute, in a boyish way." Julia said as she painted her nails. I never knew why she bothered because they just got chipped the next day from working, but I guess she enjoyed the process.

"I don't know if I can trust your judgement seeing as you think _Elliot_ is hot." I replied to the approving snickers from Natalie.

"He _is_!" I scrunched my nose up and Natalie made gagging noises. Elliot had been there for me a hell of a lot in the period after we were ship wrecked. He had been nothing but perfect to me, but I'd never felt an ounce of attraction towards him. I guess, in an abstract if-you-like-them-intellectual kind of way, he was attractive, but I'd never personally felt it. He had a good figure from all the lifting he had to do, and I knew he was stronger than he looked from the times he'd had to grab me to stop me from doing something crazy. He dressed well – braces and a shirt making him pretty dapper under the apron – and he was polite and sensitive. Not very easy to talk to, but in a sort of silences-are-awkward-with-you kind of way versus the more comfortable silence kind of way I found with Vaughn. But then maybe those silences weren't awkward for Julia. In any case, they floated each other's boats and I wasn't here to judge.

I just couldn't in a million years think of him as _hot_.

"Eh." I replied, shrugging, not wanting to get Natalie and Julia started. Natalie snorted and Julia turned on her.

"So who do _you_ think is hot, if not your brother?" She asked waspishly.

"Would you _want_ me to think my brother is hot?" Natalie replied, eyes wide and disbelieving. Julia looked a bit sheepish and shook her head.

"I guess not." She smiled. "So? Anyone catch your eye?" Natalie blushed a bit and Lanna jumped on it.

"Ooooh, you're blushing! There _is_! Tell us, tell us, tell us!"

"Well I just think that the new guy, Pierre, is kind of cute." She mumbled. Wait, hold the phone. _Pierre_ was the new eligible bachelor?

" _Pierre_ is the new eligible bachelor?" I asked. "I met him yesterday. Mate, he's like, _thirteen_. I thought he was the chef's _son_ just trying to be cute." The other three stared at me in silence for a few seconds, then Julia and Lanna burst out laughing at my naivety and Natalie flushed hotly. I winced at my error. "Sorry Nat, I just didn't put two and two together right. If you like him it's cool."

"Yes. It _is_ cool. Because it doesn't matter what you bitches think." She folded her arms and refused to look at us. We exchanged awkward looks.

"Sooo…" Lanna started, "Why'd you bring him up, Julia?" She asked and Julia went a bit pink.

"Well actually, I thought Chelsea might be interested…" she trailed off as both Natalie and I got whiplash from snapping our heads towards her so quickly.

"You _what_?" We both asked. Natalie narrowed her eyes at me and I quickly waved my hands in front of my body.

"I am _not_ interested, don't worry." I assured her. I turned my attention back to Julia. "I thought you knew…" I coughed, not wanting to say the words aloud. _That I fancy the purple satin pants off your cousin_.

"I do," She confirmed, "but y'know. It's always good to keep your options open." She looked kind of shifty in an I'm-so-totally-not-hiding-anything-from-you-I'm-innocent sort of way, so of course I was immediately suspicious. Our girl talk got interrupted though by an anguished cry from the corridor.

" _Julia_!" Vaughn shouted. "What the _fuck_ is all this?" We all stood up and peeked around the corner to see Vaughn tangled up in a web of sticky tape.

"Sorry, cuz!" She giggled, trying not to laugh at the poor man. "I thought it was visible enough…"

"Yeah well you fucking thought wrong, didn't ya?" He growled and I was close enough to hear him say, "You _know_ I don't see as good as you." under his breath before he picked up in volume. "Get this shit off me so I can get myself a damned glass of milk!" I lost it at the milk comment and burst out into my most unattractive cackle-laugh. He'd sounded so much like a petulant child that I just couldn't hold back. He looked at me like I'd betrayed him for a second before catching on to what I was laughing about and actually managing to snigger a bit about it himself. Julia meanwhile was pulling off lines of tape muttering,

"I made it _quite clear_ that this was a boy-free zone and here you are, stampeding on our girls' night with your big mannish feet." and Vaughn and I did our thing and rolled our eyes at each other, grinning.

He pushed past us and walked through the living room to the kitchen. I yelled out "Duck!" before he could walk into that tape as well and he sent a sarcastic salute back my way as he dutifully ducked under the tape and we heard him clinking round in the fridge. Resuming our previous positions, Natalie started up the conversation again.

"So, Julia likes Elliot, no news there."

"You like Pierre." Julia added.

"And _you_ think Chelsea would like Pierre." Lanna directed towards Julia as a loud thunk sounded from the kitchen.

"And _you_ …?" I prodded Lanna. "Denny?" she blushed but actually shook her head.

"Denny's good for conversation and fishing." She started, "but I'm not actually attracted to _him_." All three of us picked up on the inflection on her last word.

"So who _are_ you attracted to?" Julia asked and Lanna smiled.

"Now more than ever after seeing him smile," she announced, "Vaughn!"

Choking noises came from the kitchen, followed by a short silence, then Vaugh reappeared, ducking under the tape, with a half emptied glass of milk. I felt my mind shut down a little bit at her words, but I was actually a bit impressed at her confidence. Who just _tells_ someone like that? I guess being a popstar does things for your self-assurance. Vaughn met my gaze quickly before facing Lanna and my heart went boom-thud from the way it had seemed like he was checking before he answered her. Checking if I was alright, if I was jealous or if I didn't care, I didn't know, but he'd been looking for something. Something which he apparently found because he sent his blankest, coldest look towards Lanna and said,

"Not gonna happen. _Ever._ " He then guzzled the rest of his milk – something which I've _never_ thought I'd find attractive, but there he was, looking glorious – dropped the glass on an end table and stalked back into the shadows towards his room, sending me another look as he did so.

The three of us looked at Lanna expectantly, though I noticed Julia sending me looks in my peripheral. The popstar sighed and shrugged.

"There'll be other cowboys." She laughed and the tense atmosphere was broken as we recalled how bewildered he'd looked when caught up in the tape, which prompted Julia to replace it before redoing the nails that had got ruined whilst peeling it off her cousin. The conversation moved on to news of her and Elliot and their most recent date and the beginnings of a worryingly detailed recount of their first kiss, which thankfully Natalie put a stop to before Julia got too into it.

\- Vaughn -

Of all the stupid fucking idiots on this island, Julia thought Chelsea would go for _Pierre_? The guy who wore purple like he was the planet's last advocate for gay pride? What did she think Chelsea _went_ for in men? Ridiculous hats? Cutlery obsessions? The vertically challenged? The girl was crazy…but she made a good point. Chels had been working _real_ hard with this island, and new people were flocking here all the damn time. Every week I came back there were more people and something new to look at on the island and Chelsea was a good-lookin' girl – _stunning_ , my mind provided helpfully, as if I didn't notice her lopsided smile or ocean-deep eyes every fuckin' time I saw her – she was bound to get interest from someone else at some point. If I wanted a stone's throw in hell's chance with her, I had to bite the bullet, suck it up and do something about it.

Now the question just remained, _did_ I want to try start anything up? Assuming I was successful, I'm away from the island five days a week, which was both a blessing and a curse, I guess. It took the pressure off from always having to find something to do with her, but then I hardly got to see her. And I'm a pretty possessive guy, so I knew it wouldn't help my jealousy if I know she's here hanging out with _Pierre_ and his fucking purple pantaloons whilst I was stuck in the city. There's also the fact that I'd have to open up and talk, and I'd have to sacrifice my alone time and I'd have to push myself way outside my comfort zone all the damn time…I'd probably spend too much time outside in the sun as well, and my expenditure on sun cream would sky rocket…

But at the end of it all, I'd have _Chelsea_.

I was roused from my thoughts by a knock on my door.

"Yeah?" I called and the door creaked open to reveal the woman of my thoughts. "Chels." I greeted without thinking twice about it, and I saw the pleasant surprise on her face. I took in what she was wearing for the first time and smirked. "Or should I call you Gwen?" I asked, looking her black and white cow-print onesie up and down.

"Don't be stupid, Vaughn, Gwen's all white." She sniffed. "Besides, Julia's in a leopard print one in case you hadn't noticed." I hadn't actually, but then I never paid attention to whatever ridiculous get-up Julia tried to pass for an outfit. Chelsea on the other hand…I noticed she'd taken her bandana off and that she had a side-parting. It didn't make a difference in life if she had a side or center parting, but I'd always assumed center with her bandana on. With it off now there was less color on her head to distract from her eyes which really were a seriously deep blue that I couldn't stop staring at. The longer I looked, the easier it became to imagine them heavy-lidded and an inch away from my own, her breath just lightly –

"What d'you want?" I asked to derail that thought train from my mind.

"Julia said you're allowed to join us for a movie, if you want." She shrugged. "Nat and I managed to sway them from rom-com and taunt them into psychological thriller, so we're watching Shutter Island if that appeals." She grinned at me, "I figured it'd freak them out brilliantly seeing as we live on a previously abandoned island."

Twisting my spine from side to side until it cracked satisfyingly, I stood. Shutter Island was one of my favourite films and I'd been sold from the moment she said it, even if I did have to put up with Julia and Lanna. Natalie wasn't so bad. I went to follow her out the room, but a hand on my chest stopped me. I looked down and met a frown.

"You've got to be in your pyjamas if you're going to join us." Sighing but not even trying to start an argument, I Frisbee threw my hat onto my bed, slipped out my vest and unbuttoned my shirt. I raised an eyebrow when I noticed she was still standing there in the doorway, creeping on me changing, but she blushed and pivoted on her heel to leave her back to me. I snorted and quickly grabbed a gray t-shirt and some black PJ bottoms, pulling them on once I'd chucked all my day clothes at the foot of my bed. I coughed to let her know I'd finished and she turned around again, eyebrow raised as she noted my neckerchief still tied up. "You sleep with that on?" She asked. I felt myself tense and just nodded shortly.

"Yes." She rolled her shoulders and rolled off my attitude as well, like water off a duck's feathers. We walked into the living room to see that Natalie had made a nest of her sleeping bag at the foot of the loveseat that Julia was lying on, taking up the entire space. Lanna was sitting on one side of the other one and patted the area next to her invitingly.

"Yoo-hoo!" She called, "I saved you a seat! Oh Vaughnie, You look so _lovely_ without your silly hat on." I scowled at her and stood in front of her.

"Move." I commanded, noting Chelsea taking the seat Lanna had offered me. The popstar pouted.

"But Vaughnie." She whined. "I want to sit next to _you_. What if I get scared? You're so _dreamy_ , I'm sure it'd help calm me down to have you next to me."

"Don't call me that." I grit out. The nickname rubbed me up the complete wrong way.

Lanna just pouted harder and turned to Chelsea, "Don't you think Vaughnie is dreamy?"

"Lanna." She sighed. "Don't call him that if he doesn't like it."

"Fine." Lanna grouched. "I still think he's gorgeous but whatever. I can take a hint." _Obviously you can't seeing as I was quite clear earlier when you declared your attraction to me_ I thought, but I wasn't complaining as she stood up and flounced over to where Julia was lounging, knocking my cousin's feet off the seat and plopping herself down. I sighed and took my place next to Chelsea and Natalie hit play on the remote.

"Thanks." I muttered to Chels once the opening music started on screen.

"No problem." She replied, pulling her sleeping bag onto her lap and unzipping it to make a blanket of sorts. The room was pretty cold actually – the rain having cooled the island down after the stupidly hot July – and she placed it over herself before pulling up a corner and offering for me to scoot under it as well. Too weak to pass over the opportunity, I tugged it over me, causing her to move closer to me to keep herself under it. I felt my heart rate pick up as she tried to get comfortable without jostling me too much. I lost patience with her wriggling pretty soon and wanted to pay attention to the movie, so I just gently pushed her head toward my shoulder with the arm I had lying on the back of the couch. I felt her gaze on me, but ignored it, so she hesitantly laid it down on my shoulder and shuffled in a bit closer to my body.

I can't believe I thought this would _help_ me concentrate on the movie. The fingers of my hand on the back of the couch had moved to her hair without my commanding them and were running through it slowly, pulling it away from her face and tucking it behind her ear, untucking it then tucking it again. It was mesmerising and I was paying far too much attention to the soft texture of it to have any to spare on what was going on on-screen. After doing that motion for a while, my hand ran down the side of her neck, over her shoulder and down her upper arm until I found the sleeping bag, which I pulled up to cover her better. It then settled on her shoulder, index finger tracing circles and squiggles around her upper arm through the soft fabric of her onesie. At some point during the film I heard her gulp audibly and sigh shakily, shifting slightly in my hold. I opened up the embrace to let her move away should she want to, but instead she shuffled closer, pushing her head further into the curve of my neck and pressing her face against my collarbone for a few seconds just to breathe. One of her hands moved under the sleeping bag that was covering us to our necks and rested on my chest, her other arm tucking between her body and mine. I brought my arm back, releasing a shaky breath myself, and just let my fingers run through the length of her hair as I tried to pick up the storyline again. God my chest felt tight.

We sat that way for most of the movie before I felt a burning gaze on me. It had just reached the lighthouse scene on the telly when I looked over slightly to see Julia and Lanna both staring at me. Natalie was obliviously gaping up at the screen from the floor, but the other two were smirking at me in a really conspiring way…The little shits! Suddenly I connected the dots, pulling in all the resources I had on Julia's character and knowledge that Lanna was in the creative business and it made sense. Julia had – had _hired_ Lanna to be an annoying shit to try to push Chelsea and I closer together. They'd played me like a fiddle and if it hadn't worked so damn well I might had been mad, but instead I gave them a glare that I hope melted their bones, and tugged the girl in my arms closer, to the extent that her hand on my chest slipped round my waist and she had to hang her legs over my lap in order to not be completely squished. She looked up at me, bewildered, but I just stared back until she settled her head against my neck again – _where it should always be, she shouldn't be allowed to ever move it from this spot_ – and I tilted mine slightly to rest my jaw against the top of hers. My hand had slipped around her waist as well and was resting on her stomach, and I made a conscious effort to keep it still so I didn't look like a creeper, stroking her stomach, and we played out the rest of the movie like that, all the way until the final line which always resounded with me:

"Which would be worse: To live as a monster, or to die as a good man?"

\- Chelsea -

The screen had gone black and I didn't know what to do. Books and movies never tell you about this part of a scene – they just cut to the next one. It hadn't felt awkward whilst there was something to watch but now I was practically _sitting in Vaughn's lap, oh my God, what am I meant to do from here on_? Julia and Lanna were waffling about in the background but their actions were like white noise to me; all my attention was centred on the loveseat I was sat on. Natalie had fallen asleep about five minutes before the end of the film; not used to staying up late anymore. I felt like I could drop dead asleep any second myself, only I was so wired from sitting in Vaughn's arms – which were as strong as I remembered from our first meeting – surrounded by his smell – some American brand deodorant that I didn't know, fresh air and a hint of hay – and feeling his heart beat in the chest I was _snuggled_ up against – racing just as fast, if not faster, than my own – that I didn't think I could have slept even if someone fired a tranquiliser dart into me. Gathering my courage – _you got through a shipwreck, Chelsea, you can look at a freaking boy_ – I displaced his head that was resting on mine to look at him. The action brought our faces very, _very_ close together and we blinked at each other.

"Hi." I croaked out, smiling nervously.

"Howdy cowgirl." He breathed in reply, not smiling but his expression was soft. He lifted his free hand that wasn't around me and cupped my face and suddenly I was overcome by delirium and a massive grin tore my face in two. I may be a bit ignorant sometimes, but even I couldn't mistake all the signs of the night. Vaughn wasn't the kind of guy that snuggled with 'just friends'; it wasn't _so_ outside the realms of possibility to assume that _he likes me back!_ I turned my grin into his palm to hide it because, frankly, it was a bit ridiculous and probably slightly disconcerting to look at. His hand slid away down my neck and I peeked at him to see him smiling at me. I was hit, as I always am, by the intensity of the man in front of me. Vaughn was a very single-gazed person. If he had something to say, he'd look at you when he said it – even if he didn't always meet your eyes. Even if you're standing in a crowd of people all talking and it would be more polite to look around and include everyone, he would direct everything he said at the person he was saying it to, in as few words as possible. He may be good at ignoring people, but when he paid attention to you, you were It in the room, and all his focus fell on you. So being at the receiving end of one of his smiles was sort of like being hit in the face with a shovel; all that beautiful, quiet energy was being beamed straight at you and I always felt a little deflated; a little winded when it happened. "We should be getting to bed." He murmured, but he didn't make a move to untangle us.

"Er, _we_ …?" I trailed off, wide eyed. He blushed furiously – and thank God for that, he had been acting _far_ too cool with the entire thing compared to me – and stammered out.

"N-not like _that_." He scowled. "Numbskull." I laughed and reached out to touch his frowning mouth, which twitched up at the corner where my hand was, before he nudged it away and slid me back to my side of the loveseat. He ran an agitated hand through his hair and I could tell he was wishing he had his hat. "G'night, Chels." He said as he stood up and _man_ I didn't appreciate him in a t-shirt enough before. His arms were so toned – my stomach flipped as I realised they'd been around me only seconds before – and his stomach was flat, tapering down to the-right-amount-of-skinny hips where his PJ bottoms hung low. I was trying to be subtle; not staring outright, with my eyes flickering around the room but always – _always_ – returning to his presence, but I don't think I did very well as he smirked, tipped an imaginary hat and sauntered away.

"Night!" I barely remembered to return as he turned the corner and disappeared. I kind of just sat there, frozen, until high pitched squealing reached my ears and I was tackled by Julia, Lanna bouncing in the background.

"Oh my God, oh my God, _oh my God_!" Lanna was saying. "I _never_ would have tried anything with him if I knew you two were like _that_." She said, though she looked sort of suspicious saying it. My frazzled mind couldn't deal with trying to gauge her sincerity though, so I just nodded, a smile taking over my face. I gathered Julia into my arms – she was already lying on top of me gushing about nonsense – buried my face in her neck and let out a squeal myself.

"Oh my God." I repeated. "Did that just happen? Did that _actually_ just happen?" Julia was laughing and pulling back, pulling me up with her.

"I'm so happy for you Chelsea." She said, beaming. "For the both of you." I felt so _light_ it was insane. Emotions were so freaking powerful, it was terrifying, but I was so happy and my heart hurt from being so full. I missed him. He was right down the corridor and I actually missed him and this was _so dumb what even is romance?_ We heard a grunt from the corner and Natalie's red head popped up from under her sleeping bag.

"Where's the fire?" She grumbled, and Lanna and Julia squealed and jumped on her, tripping over themselves to get the words out. Nat just blinked at them, then looked at me. "Seriously? All that happened and I didn't even _notice_?"

"You're not the most observant of people." I replied kindly. She grunted at me and rolled back over under her sleeping bag.

"At least Pierre's free." She responded before dropping off to sleep again. I was envious of people who could essentially sleep on command. It always took me at least an hour between deciding to go to bed and actually sleeping. I just grinned and shrugged, not being able to even contemplate another guy right now with my head so full of cowboy.

Lanna, Julia and I stayed up a little bit longer, them giggling over date details and what mine and Vaughn's babies would look like and what not, whilst I just smiled and wondered whether Vaughn had gone to sleep that night with a smile on his face, or if he'd gone back to his room and freaked out. I couldn't blame him if he'd done the latter – he didn't seem very accustomed to these sort of situations – but I hoped for the former.

I eventually dropped off to sleep, the phantom feeling of arms around me soothing me, and the echo of the way Vaughn said my name – _"Chels"_ – being all the lullaby I needed.

~.oOo.~

Natalie swearing woke me up in the morning. I grumbled a bit and opened my eyes blearily, checking my watch. 8AM it read. Well, that was certainly a lie-in. I looked for Natalie in the dim room and saw her rubbing her knee and glaring angrily at the end table she'd walked into.

"Morning." I yawned, stretching, unzipping my onesie to reveal a Kodaline t-shirt and tying the arms around my waist to stop the entire thing from slipping down. It had got _way_ too stuffy overnight. I made sure to step over Julia and Lanna on my way to the kitchen, ducking under the tape we'd failed to remove and clattering around for pots and pans in the cupboard.

"Eggy soldiers?" I asked, putting two pans of water on to boil. We really needed to get kettles on this island.

"Yes please!" She said enthusiastically. I'd introduced her to the British breakfast back in May and she enjoyed it every time she had it.

"Oh for _fuck's_ sake."

"Better make it for three." Natalie said as she scooted away from the kitchen table, going to help Vaughn get out of the tape. My heart had started boom-thudding the moment I heard his voice and I busied myself with prepping some bread in the toaster.

"Morning!" Natalie greeted cheerily, taking pleasure in his pain. I kept my back to the room as I heard two chairs scrape out as they returned. He grunted a reply as he slumped into one.

"Eggy soldiers?" Nat asked for me as I put two eggs into one pan and hovered with a third.

"The fuck is that?" He asked, his voice harsh. I tried not to let it get to me, though it wasn't helping my nerves any, with him being so grumpy.

"It's a soft-boiled egg with buttered toast soldiers." Natalie gushed. The only time I ever saw her be enthusiastic about anything was when she was talking about food. Suddenly I could see her and Pierre getting on like a house on fire. "You dunk the soldiers in the yolk and eat them and they're _so good_."

"Sure." He agreed grouchily and I could tell he was talking reluctantly. I plopped the third egg in the pan seeing as he didn't seem completely disenchanted, and poured the second pan of water over some tea bags Chen had started stocking. I could see Vaughn being a coffee fan, but hadn't found any in the cupboards. Adding a bit of milk to his (I'd seen him make up a mug before, but had always assumed it was coffee) and a lot of sugar to mine, I turned to face the room. Vaughn was sitting with his arms folded on the table, face down in the valley they made. Natalie was watching the stove like a hawk. I dropped his tea on the table in front of him and hesitated for a second before reaching out and stroking his head lightly. I felt him jump under my hand, but he didn't shake me off. He lifted his head and looked at the tea, then up to me.

"Morning, Partner." I greeted softly, trying not to feel awkward as I saw Natalie turn her attentions from the stove to us.

"Mornin', cowgirl." He responded, eyes warm as he tugged his mug toward him. He looked at the contents then raised an eyebrow at me, to which I shrugged and returned to the stove.

The eggs had been boiling for two minutes according to my watch, so I toasted the bread for two, buttered and sliced them and took the eggs out after 6. The island didn't have egg-cups, so I just laid them out on a plate with the soldiers, gave everyone a teaspoon and their plate before sitting down and tucking in. Out the corner of my eye I could see Vaughn watching me tap open my egg; holding it gingerly on either side to tap from the top. He attempted to do the same, but was being too gentle and kept flinching from the heat of the egg. After watching him struggle to scoop the head off it, I finally gave in and laughed whilst swapping our plates to put him out his misery. He shot me an annoyed look, but smiled after and I was staggered at how much better he was getting at laughing at himself versus when he first fell onto the dock a month and a half ago.

Natalie went to wake the other two as I cleared the dishes from the table, aiming to have everything cleaned before Julia stumbled in and blew the kitchen up by boiling eggs or something. She'd not done it before; but it had been a close call. She'd left the eggs boiling for half an hour, the pan had boiled dry and the eggs had exploded; their poached insides bursting free from the shells and burning to the bottom of the pan. I'd only just managed to convince her to throw them away rather than eat around the burnt bits. Mirabelle, Julia and Vaughn all had this sort of "let nothing go to waste" attitude, which worried me sometimes when I caught Vaughn cutting around the mould in bread.

I dropped the plates into the sink and started filling it up with water when I felt a body press up behind me; arms encasing me on either side with hands gripping the counter next to mine. "You cooked, I'll clean." Vaughn said as I looked at him over my shoulder.

"I don't mind." I replied honestly. I was a believer in "you make the mess, you clean the mess", probably because I'd had the lesson ingrained into me as a child when I used to get creative with felt-tips. But Vaughn shook his head, moved his hands to my waist and just easy as pie lifted me clear off the ground. I gripped his arms and squeaked as he spun and deposited me behind him.

"Gotta show you that I don't expect ya to live in the kitchen, now don't I?" He said as he started soaping up the first plate. Before I could ponder too deeply on whether that meant he was expecting us to have more meals together; more mornings together or he could see a future where this was an everyday occurrence, the girls returned with a barrage of noise and Lanna begging Julia to let _her_ do the cooking because at least she was good with fish.

" _Fish_!" Julia shrieked in disgust. "Forget it, I'll just go to Elliot's and get him to cook me something."

"Elliot can cook?" Both Natalie and Lanna asked simultaneously. Vaughn snorted and I looked at Natalie in disbelief.

"He's your _twin_." I said. "Should you not _know_ if he can cook?" Natalie had the grace to look a bit ashamed, but Julia cut in with,

"The apron's not just for show." and then with a smirk at me and an evil look at Natalie, "though when he takes it off, he means business. He's hiding a _lot_ more than you'd think under -"

"That's enough!" Natalie shrieked and ran back to the living room whilst the three of us laughed, Vaughn an ever-present silence in the background. We all knew Julia had no idea what Elliot hid under his apron, but Natalie was just too easy to squick out.

"Oh but I haven't told you about the time we were in your guys' room!" Julia called, running after her. "Now remind me because I find it _so_ hard to tell your beds apart sometimes…"

"Julia!" Natalie shrieked again, and I just leant against the counter drying the crockery Vaughn washed as Lanna went about frying some fish for herself. My contentment was at a maximum and I couldn't believe that this was now my life.

~..oOo.~

\- Vaughn -

The girl squad eventually all trickled out the house, Chelsea leaving with a light touch to my hand by hers which I caught and held for a few seconds as we verbally said goodbye for the week. Julia had already gone to Elliot's, moaning about the rain as she went and I slouched off to my room to get dressed for the day. I was peacefully minding my own business, reading on my bed a few hours later when Julia burst into my room. I marked my page and slowly put my book down. I'd been expecting this since last night, and I was actually pretty surprised she'd managed to hold off for as long as she did.

"So." She said, all business as she sat down on my desk chair. "You and Chelsea." I looked at her expectant gaze and sighed.

"Me and Chelsea." I conceded, nodding. I'd kind of been expecting a squeal of some sort – if the noises coming from the living room last night after I left were anything to go by – but instead she was completely calm as she nodded.

"You can't hurt her, Vaughn." She told me. I frowned.

"Well I can hardly promise that can I?" I pointed out. "I'm not going to _try_ and hurt her but I'm only human, Julia, and I'm new to this. I'm bound to make mistakes."

"As is she." Julia agreed, "but you didn't see her before. I mean, only Nat's family really did, even the Chelsea I met was better than what they dealt with, but she was in a _real_ bad way when she got here." I vaguely remember Chelsea mentioning something like that when we first met. Something about a hullaballoo…?

"Explain." I demanded before I could think of whether Chelsea would want me knowing or Julia telling. Julia frowned at me in reprimand and clarified herself.

"I'm only going to tell you the basics, and only because I know that word's already spread to the others on the island. It's not a secret, but it's not exactly talked about either."

I guess only living on the island two days a week means I miss out on all the gossip. That's usually something I was grateful for, but not when it comes to Chels. I nodded.

"There's not much else to say than what I already have." Julia admitted, sighing. "So their ship crashed against the rocks and they swam ashore. Natalie had actually passed out – she'd hit her head on one of the rocks she thinks, but I guess it was all so quick she didn't really take in the details. She was one of the bodies they recovered." I shut my eyes, knowing the unspoken part of that sentence. _She was the only one of the bodies they managed to revive_. "Chelsea took it really hard. The others bounced back a bit quicker, I guess, but Chelsea was in a funk for a while – she spent most of April just huddled in a corner in their house. Elliot's told me that he had to fetch Chelsea from the beach a couple times – apparently she was just this carcass that sat and ate but didn't do much of nothing else. She'd go and sit against that big boulder on the beach for hours and Elliot would have to swim out to her and drag her back when the tide came in because she wouldn't leave herself." I felt a cold wash of some emotion run down me from my brain to my toes. _Chelsea_ … "That's why we waited so long before we called you over. She didn't get back on her feet 'til the end of April, and when we met her at the start of May she was still strugglin'. We thought by the end of June she'd be better equipped and she was, so then we called you and you came. You know the rest."

Christ that was heavy. I'll admit I'd never really thought about the pioneers of the island. I'd certainly never remembered the crew that would have been on board the ship. I don't know how I was thinking the wreck happened – they all just floated down with no injuries or fatalities and landed on the island? I felt ashamed of my ignorance now and vowed to always remember those who gave their lives trying to navigate a tiny boat out of the storm. Who knew, perhaps that attempt at navigation actually put them in the direction of the island rather than empty sea. It might have been futile to the captain and staff, but it led to the survival of Chelsea and the others, and that was something we all should remember. I swallowed and nodded.

"I get it." Julia exhaled heavily through her nose.

"I'm not trying to play favourites." She explained. "I'd be telling her not to hurt you as well, but then she'd ask why and I already know that that's a story you should tell her yourself." I stiffened at the mention of it and heard Julia sigh. "Y'all just need to look after each other."

"Doesn't everyone?" I asked into the quiet. _Chels…_

~.oOo.~

I actually felt a bit nervous boarding the boat back to the city, which was ridiculous. I did this trip twice a week and nothing ever happened. Just because it was raining didn't mean it would necessarily storm, and just because I'd heard a disaster story didn't mean I'd become part of one. Still, I stayed out on deck for the duration of the ride, even though it was raining buckets outside. The rest of the tourists were sheltering in the dining area or lounge, but I felt this paranoid need to be able to see where we were going at all times. Of course we made it to port without a hitch, and I disembarked and pushed my way through the tourists all clambering for their luggage. I didn't have none, so I shouldered my way through until I reached the streets of commuters dashing through the rain. It was actually pretty deserted and I took my time walking to my apartment, seeing as I was already soaked through from the boat ride. I dug my keys out my wet pocket and chucked them on the counter once I was through my door. I flipped through the mail I'd picked up from my pigeonhole and switched the telly on to the weather station. Separating the envelopes into 'junk' and 'worth a look', I left them on my coffee table and squelched my way to my room. Shimmying out my wet clothes, I put on some joggers and a t-shirt, then left to shove all my crap in my washing machine. I grabbed some milk from the fridge and kicked back on the couch, tearing open envelopes as I watched the forecast for the surrounding area. The island was _just_ on the peripheral of the map, and I watched with interest as I saw it turn from a constant rain cloud to sun by the end of the week. I smiled as I thought how happy Chels would be for her water-logged plants. They didn't show further than that, but I hoped it'd be sunny on my return. It'd be good for the animals to be let out the barn a while for once.

~.oOo.~

That weekend I'd been forced out of my neighbourhood to go to the shops for trivial things such as food. I normally tried to stay out of the city center as much as possible – my apartment complex was actually a little way out; close to my work which required more open space than the center could provide. I could buy fresh produce from my work; milk, eggs, meat and what not, but if I wanted any snacks or fruit and veg I'd have to go to the city because I lived in a shithole which didn't even have a convenience store nearby.

On my way to the nearest store, I ambled past a clothing store with a few mannequins on display. Normally I'd walk straight past this sort of thing; I despise spending unnecessary money and the only presents I ever bought people were usually crap from charity stores. I think I'd made an effort for Mirabelle's fiftieth and Julia's twenty first, but otherwise they were lucky to get a second-hand scarf from me on birthdays. Present giving on the island was actually a lot simpler as it seemed to center around produce and foraged items. Free and delicious. The reason my eyes caught on this store was because they'd wrapped some bandanas around the heads of the mannequins and it reminded me of Chelsea so much that I actually cared to look. The bandanas were shiny and new compared to the ratty one Chels wore, but it was the dress on the second mannequin that made me actually stop in the street. It was pretty, I guess, though I'm not really one to judge fashion; a sort of sky blue color, tight material, short sleeves and rested a couple of inches above the knee on the doll wearing it. A red bandana was wrapped around its head in a combination which was pretty vibrant to look at. I raised my eyes to the sky as I thought _am I seriously going to do this_?

The bell above the door tinkled as I walked in.

 **Chapter End.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N** **:** **TRIGGER WARNING** **: Witnessing of a PTSD related flashback, self-harm of a sort.**

 **Chapter 4.**

\- Chelsea -

The next day the rain cloud broke apart and the sun finally started shining again. The weather changes were so dramatic here, I'm not sure if I'll ever really be able to get used to them, but I was grateful for the reprieve in rainfall. My crops had been thoroughly watered – probably almost too much – the past few days, and were juicy, ripe and ready to harvest, so I spent the entire morning travelling to and from my shipping box and field, pulling tomatoes off vines, uprooting onions and carefully cutting off corn cobs. Gwen, Aras and Arlette moseyed about in the fenced off area I'd built for them, visibly happier for being outside for the first time in weeks and I thought they might be kind to me with produce the next day. Once it hit lunch time, I made a pasta dish using my freshly harvested crops and decided to hit the beach to hang out with Denny. The past two days had been very Vaughn-centric (as most Wednesdays and Thursdays were) and I didn't want to forget about the friends who had been there before Vaughn crashed into my life.

I bumped into Gannon on the way down to the beach and told him that I should have the money for the final bridge repair the next day. I knew I already had it to spare if I really wanted it, but I'd been trying to put some aside from my daily profits to go towards a house expansion. The farmhouse was sweet, but it was still as dilapidated as when I first arrived – even Natalie's and Chen's houses had been expanded in the time we'd been here.

"I can provide about 350 pieces of lumber." I told him, feeling guilty over not chopping any over the past two days. If I'd really worked at it instead of gossiping at a sleepover, I probably could have got him at least 400. Gannon grinned at me – something which always looked peculiar, but made me happy to see because it was so genuine.

"Don' yer worry, miss." He assured me. "I'd not been expecting yer ter get all the 500 you'd needed for the first two bridges. It's part of me job to provide materials, so don't yer go feelin' guilty or nothin' over it." I beamed at him. I'd always had a soft spot for the man since he arrived. I was bloody intimidated when he first knocked on my door back in May – the guy was huge! – but then he'd opened his mouth and this wonderful thick Somerset accent had come out and I was already sold on the man.

"Thanks, Gannon, that takes a load off. I'll be able to ask you for a house expansion really soon then if you don't mind providing the lumber. Whenever works best for you." He grinned again and loped off, looking far more excited than usual. I didn't think he needed the extra work seeing as he was still doing final touches on Regis's mansion, but I guess being busy kept him happy. I carried on down to the beach and frowned when I didn't see Denny sitting out on the pier. It was 2PM…surely not even _he_ was still asleep?

I wandered down onto the sand and kicked off my shoes; basking in the sunlight a little bit when I heard a weird scraping noise coming from my right. I looked over and saw the boulder; Kuu perched on top.

"Kuu?" I asked, knowing the bird to never go too far from his owner. I walked over to the rock and peered around it. "What the heckie are you doing?" I asked, looking down at Denny crouched in the sand, spoon in one hand, jam jar in the other.

"Yo, Chelsea!" He greeted, grinning up at me. "Check out all this seaweed I'm getting." He held the jar up and I saw a load of sludgy dark green stuff gathering in the bottom.

"Er, lovely." I smiled politely. "Moved on from fish then, have you?" He laughed and stood up, bending backwards to crack his back.

"Nah, never! Pierre just mentioned that he'd run out of seaweed to me. I think he's wanting to do some sushi dishes."

"I didn't realise you and he were friends. I hear from Lanna that she's been hanging out with you, too. Seems I wasn't as missed as I thought I was." I elbowed him teasingly and he laughed, slinging an arm around my neck.

"Naw, no one could replace you, Chelsea!" He replied. The distinct smell of sea and fish wafted from him and I pushed him away laughing.

"Jeez, Den, don't you ever use soap?" He pouted.

"Pierre says that a man should be proud to carry the scent of his labours." He stuck his nose in the air.

"I'm pretty sure that's just Pierre's way of agreeing that you smell. Bad." I countered and he actually looked worried for a second.

"It's not _that_ bad is it?" He asked, frowning. I was surprised – one hardly ever saw Denny actually stop to worry about something and I felt bad for picking on a subject if it was something he genuinely cared about.

"No, it's not, I'm sorry. I didn't meant to make you self-conscious." I wrapped an arm around his waist to show that he wasn't as repulsive as I'd made him seem. He hummed, hesitatingly placing his arm back round my shoulders. Now I was really worried. "Seriously, Denny, it's fine, I was just joking. You smell of _you_ , fresh air, ocean, fish and all and it'd be weird if you didn't." He didn't look very reassured, so I ventured with, "I really am sorry, you don't have to change anything. But, I mean, if you _wanted_ to, I know Chen sells some pretty subtle soap. It won't make you smell like a piece of fruit, but it could, I don't know, freshen you up some. Or something." He perked up at that.

"I might look into that. I mean, it's not good hygiene anyway, not to use soap, is it?" He asked looking sheepish. "I guess I just never really cared how I smelt before." I wanted to ask what had changed now, but sensed that it was something he'd tell me himself if he wanted to. We'd reached the pier and sat down, casting our rods out and watching them bob up and down in the waves. "So how's farm life treating ya?" He asked, 100% cheerful again and I grinned in relief, telling him about my upcoming house upgrade.

~.oOo.~

It struck me that weekend that I'd been really exclusive in my travels around the islands. I'd made it out to the mine a bunch of times, and even had a look at the mountain peak – though that took a _lot_ out of me and I'd only managed it twice before – but I'd never really explored the forest and now that the jungle was open to me, I decided to take the weekend off work and go on an adventure. I watered my crops and planted some more onions, saw to my animals and left them outside after confirming with Taro that it'd be sunny all day, then set off for the forest.

The roads in the forest were pretty winding and confusing, but I'd never got lost yet because I'd always been aiming for the mountain top and let's face it, who needs a pathway when you can just walk straight through the trees? I wasn't worried about getting caught in brambles – or whatever the tropical equivalent was – or meeting some nasty bugs, so once I'd taken one wrong turn the first time I'd come here, I'd started just walking through the trees to get to the mines. Because of this, I'd never gone south of the main path before. I was regretting that decision now.

"Wow." I whispered under my breath as I rounded a corner and saw a large crystal blue lake glittering in the sunlight, an old looking church built next to it. I sat next to it and stared. I'd always been a fan of water – one of the reasons why I'd decided to go on a boat trip in the first place, all those months ago now – and this lake was still as still could be; reflecting the sky so perfectly I could see the trees and clouds on the surface of it. I sat there for what must have been an hour or so, just listening to the breeze in the trees around me and the busy forest life buzzing amongst the woods. I was roused from my tranquillity when I heard a massive _bang!_ from behind me. I jumped and squeaked a bit in shock. Standing up and whirling around, I squinted through the trees and saw – _was that a house?_ – something bricked and pink; smoke curling out above the treeline. Maybe it was a stupid thing to do, but my instinct was to run right towards the source of the explosion. I crashed through the undergrowth and ran through the door without knocking.

"Er…" I paused as I crossed the threshold, not expecting the sight I was greeted with. Teddy bears littered the floor and the far wall was invisible behind shelves stacked with books and phials filled with colourful liquids. A cauldron bubbled in the centre of the room while a life-sized teddy sat behind it. Nothing was on fire and I could see that the smoke that was visible outside was wafting off the cauldron and going out the chimney. "Hello?" I called and a weird chanting filled the air. I felt a buzzing sort of energy around me and then it stopped.

"Equestew eerfraphor perfewayer – Oh." A girl – or rather someone who looked close to my age – stepped out from behind the bear I'd been staring at. She was dressed in a bohemian style purple dress and – _was that a_ cape? – with frizzy blonde hair that flew in every which way and red eyes. _Surely those can't be natural_ I thought. "I thought you were the Harvest Goddess." the girl said, looking annoyed at my presence.

"I'm sorry, the _who_?" I asked. "And who are you? What was that chanting? Are you alright? I heard an explosion from around here…" I trailed off as I realised I was uncharacteristically asking a lot of questions, but I think the fumes from the cauldron were starting to go to my head because I felt sort of dizzy in an I-won't-faint-but-my-brain-is-feeling-about-a-kilo-lighter-than-normal way.

"The Harvest Goddess." she replied, seeming more annoyed at the fact that I'd asked about the – the _Goddess_ before asking about _her_ than the number of questions I'd posed. "My mortal enemy. She lives in the pond." She sniffed daintily. "So really she's no better than an overgrown fish." The pond? That gorgeous lake through the woods? And some _deity_ _lived_ there? " _I'm_ the Witch Princess." The girl continued. "And I do _proper_ magic, none of the mumbo-jumbo watering stuff the Goddess and her sprites do. The explosion," she turned sheepish, "was just a…failed attempt with a new spell. They're _very_ tricky you see, you couldn't _possibly_ understand the complexity that goes into creating new ones."

"I highly doubt I could." I replied absently, feeling a bit out of my depth. Magic? Goddesses? Sprites? The Witch Princess seemed pleased by my admittance of idiocy and peered at me with a new light of curiosity in her eyes.

"So who are _you_ and what are you doing here? No one other than the Trout and I have been on the island for _decades_." Right. Witch Princess. Probably immortal or something. Completely normal.

"I'm Chelsea, the farmer of the island. My friends and I shipwrecked here a few months ago and we're restoring it. I had our carpenter fix the bridge between the island and this one." Witch Princess pouted a bit at the mention of new people, but then she got a gleeful look in her eye and beamed.

"New people? Oh what _fun_! I'll be able to do _all kinds_ of experiments!" I looked at her, alarmed.

"You can't just experiment on people!" I cried. "Especially not if there're gonna be more explosions!" An evil glint entered her eyes and she grinned at me in an angelic manner that I could already tell didn't match her face quite right.

"You'll just have to be my guinea pig then, won't you?" She said and I gulped, backing away towards the door.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Witch Princess, but, you know, I have, um, crops to water and – and – fish! – I have fish to catch. Gotta make a living somehow, right? I'll see you around, bye!" And I ran from the house, back through the woods and hit the bridge, not knowing how far her spells could reach.

That was quite enough exploring for one day, I think.

~.oOo.~

The next day I was walking through East town on my way to the jungle with high hopes that I wouldn't bump into another mythical being with magical powers when I bumped into Lanna instead, staring wistfully across the bridge, fishing pole in hand.

"You alright, Lanna?" I asked, coming to a stop next to her.

"Hm? Oh. Yeah." She sighed, not sounding very alright at all. "I'm just thinking."

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Well." She sighed heavily again. "I would love to have the sort of freedom you do." I blinked at her. Well that came totally out of the blue.

"How do you mean?" I asked, curiously.

"You – you're so _strong_ and unburdened. You can just walk into this jungle here without a worry in the world, confident that you're gonna be alright! You go into mines where there are pitfalls and the forest where some mighty strange noises come from, and now you're off to a _jungle_ where there could be wildcats or natives or _savage_ natives and you're not scared at all! _I_ want to be able to go wherever I please and not have to worry about if I'll come out with all my limbs attached!" I stared at the popstar a little bit speechless. I guess I'd never thought about how much weight she put in her image before and how much she might hate doing that. I'd just thought she was a self-aware person who liked to look good just for the sake of looking good, but now I could see that maybe that was more a learned behaviour from being in the spotlight – one she was struggling to _un_ -learn.

"I think you could do it." I replied, patting her on the shoulder. "You just need to get a bit more used to island life. You've not been here very long and you're still used to the city. It's a big adjustment and you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You can come with me now, if you want?" She smiled at me and relaxed her posture a bit, looking like she'd let a weight off her chest.

"That would actually be brilliant, Chelsea. Yes please!" She reeled in her line and unhooked the massive fish on the other end of it. Quick as anything she whacked the fish's head against the bridge, pulled a knife out from god knows where and cut it inside the gill flap, holding it in the water as its stunned form bled out. I cringed and looked the other way; I'd seen Denny do this often – he did it to all my fish seeing as I couldn't bring myself to do it – and I knew it was more humane than letting the things suffocate, but it was still something I found hard to watch. Once the fish was bled, she put it in a bag she had with her and started to walk over the bridge, happy as anything. I shook my head and followed her. Fishers. Honestly.

The moment you entered the jungle you could tell. There was an immediate hush in background noise – the sea faded along with any bustling noises of the tourists on the island – and a sudden influx in insect noise all around us. The leaves rustled constantly, causing Lanna to jump frequently, and the air was heavy and damp with condensation in the summer heat. We walked along, chatting amiably about her old career and how much easier she found it living on the island where she didn't have to worry about her appearance as much.

"I still think you look amazing in everything you wear." I told her honestly and she beamed at me.

"Oh you're so _sweet_ , I make all my own clothes. All my competitors in the industry were _so_ jealous of my outfits. You should come over one day and I can make you something." I smiled and agreed. Lanna was very energetic and more into material things than I was, but I was glad to see that those differences between us weren't stopping us from becoming friends.

We'd just gone round the bend in the road when suddenly an orange and black striped blur jumped out the trees and landed in front of us. Lanna screamed which caused me to scream and for a second I thought it was a tiger, until I remembered that tigers don't live in rain forests and are central to Asia, not abandoned islands somewhere near the coast of America. The form straightened up into a crouch and we saw that it was a man in a tiger-fur wrap, boots and gloves. Okay, maybe there were tigers somewhere in this jungle then, because he looked pretty native and I doubt he had those furs shipped over. He was holding a hand-crafted knife between his teeth and had dried brown smudges drawn on his cheeks and some tribal tattoos on his arms. He saw we were on two legs and stood, drawing himself up to his full height so that he towered over us, his dark skin glistening in the humidity of the jungle as he sheathed his knife in the scabbard slung over his hip.

"Who are you? Why you here?" He asked in broken English. Lanna tugged on my arm, obviously wanting me to answer, but I shook my head and inclined it from her to the man, indicating she should do the introductions. Her eyes went wide and she looked the most terrified that I've ever seen her. She shook her head quickly, but I folded my arms and stepped back behind her, forcing her to stand in front of me.

"U-um." She started, and I nudged her back to get her to get on with it. "I'm Lanna and this is Chelsea." She said quickly, pointing at me and retreating to stand next to me.

"My name Shea." Shea introduced, smiling a bit warily. I stepped forward.

"Nice to meet you Shea. I'm the farmer on the island and we had the bridge rebuilt." I pointed behind me. "That means lots of people might come into this jungle. I hope that's okay? I didn't realise you lived in here."

"They will not hunt." It didn't sound like a question, but I treated it like one, sharing a glance with Lanna.

"No, they won't." I agreed. "They just want to look at it. It's a very beautiful jungle." Shea smiled widely at that and nodded.

"Jungle is my home. Mine and Wada."

"Wada?" Lanna asked hesitantly and I gave her an encouraging smile.

"Wada is father to me." Shea replied. "He find me and he raise me. Wada is great warrior."

"You must love him very much." Lanna said, smiling. Shea looked a bit star struck and then blushed, hiding his face in his shoulder. He nodded shyly.

"I love Wada." Suddenly he put his nose in the air and started sniffing. He moved towards us until he noticed the bag in Lanna's hand. He pointed. "You hunt?" He asked, looking excited. Lanna jumped and looked at the bag in her hand. Opening it, she pulled out the large fish she'd caught earlier.

"I…fish?" She replied, questioningly.

"You hunt!" Shea looked delighted and jumped around in something that could resemble a dance to those with an active imagination. He stopped and got very close to Lanna all of a sudden; putting his face right up in front of hers. "Wada and me hunt. We eat the whole fish. But. We only take what we need." Shea turned to me suddenly. "You hunt?" He asked.

"I, err, sometimes." I replied and he nodded.

"Only when needed. What you hunt?" He asked.

"Fish." I replied, pointing helplessly at the gaping one hanging from Lanna's hand. Shea nodded again.

"Fish easy. Fish not attack."

"They taste _soooo_ good as well!" Lanna jumped on the bandwagon. "And their scales are _so_ pretty." Shea looked like he was about to wet himself he got so thrilled, and he grabbed Lanna by the wrist and started tugging her into the jungle.

"I make earring." He said as he pulled her away. "Fish scale earring. You come see. You come meet Wada." Lanna looked back at me, alarmed but not scared, and I just about collapsed laughing.

"Be brave!" I cried out after them in between breaths. "Be spontaneous!" Lanna grinned and let out a very musical shriek, before turning around and actively following Shea into the depths of the jungle, native on one hand, fish in the other.

I guess I could explore the jungle more another day.

~.oOo.~

Come Monday I broke the good news to Gannon that he could start upgrading my house that day. I say 'good news' because he actually reached out and hugged me when I walked into his shop front and told him I had all the money. I'd no idea he was so bored without work to do, but I felt glad to have relieved it for him.

In the meantime over the next few days, I spent some quality time with the animals – I felt like I'd been ignoring them a bit as of late – and explored the jungle to my heart's content. Imagine my surprise when I'd stumbled upon Shea's house, only to be ushered inside by Shea to meet Wada and be greeted by Wada _and_ Lanna. I'd raised an eyebrow and she'd blushed, shaking her head in an I'll-explain-later fashion and I noticed some shimmering silver earrings dangle from her ears as she did it.

"It's so _invigorating,_ Chelsea!" She told me later when I asked her about it. "Shea is _such_ a sweetheart, you've no idea. And he has no idea who I am! It's brilliant – I can just be _me_ around him. He said he'd give me some furs next time they get hold of some so I can make some clothes out of them and oh my god he's just perfect, really, you don't understand. He's going to teach me how to _hunt_ fish soon. Hunt! Not catch! He said I can use his favourite spear. Oh, he's so _dreamy_ , isn't he dreamy? No! Don't answer that, I don't want to know if I have competition or not. I mean, who _wouldn't_ want him? He's so rugged on the outside, yet so soft on the inside. He's one of a kind, I'm telling you." I sincerely doubted she had to worry about any competition for Shea, but I let her have her moment and was glad to see that she'd come out of her shell a bit.

I'd woken up Tuesday to a booming knock on my door. Groggy and still in my PJ's, I'd stumbled over to it and opened it.

"Mornin' mornin'." Gannon had greeted, grin splitting his face from ear to ear. "I got someone ter introduce ter yer."

"Hello, miss." Had come a well-spoken voice from about Gannon's knee height. "I'm Eliza, Gannon's daughter." All semblance of manners flew out the door at that point. _Gannon_ had a _daughter_. And _she_ was her? This little girl was seriously cute. Wavy blonde hair, stunning blue-green eyes, adorable little button nose. She'd giggled. "I don't look a thing like my father, do I?" She'd asked, giggling some more and sounding like a baby Mogwai, only less chesty. "If you want any beauty tips, just let me know. I'm _expert_ at them." She flipped her hair over her shoulder. Well. If you got it, flaunt it I suppose.

"It's really lovely to meet you Eliza." I'd replied. Then to Gannon, "I didn't realise you had a daughter…?"

"Nah well, I had ter expand my house first ter make a room for her, and it was quite costly, yer see. Eliza likes golden lumber and I only get the best for my little princess." He'd given her a look that could only best be described as 'whipped' and suddenly all his joy at having work made sense. The guy must have sent for her the day before and then worked overnight to get her room done in time.

"Gannon! If I'd known my custom was making that much difference I would have stopped chopping lumber months ago and just bought straight from you!" I'd cried, appalled at the fact he'd been here for almost four months without his daughter just because I thought I'd been being helpful by collecting my own lumber.

"Nah, it weren't no trouble." He dismissed me amiably, before reaching down to take Eliza's hand. "Well, I just wanted ter introduce. I'll see yer around, Chelsea. And thank you for givin' me the chance to have my daughter here with me." He'd turned and loped away before I could speak around the lump in my throat so I ended up just shutting the door and going back to bed for a bit, thinking on how much a soft-boiled egg Gannon was.

So much had been happening that I almost didn't notice that it was Wednesday soon. Almost. And when I say 'almost', I mean I was counting down the hours from 12 noon on Tuesday until 12 midnight. Finding Lanna had been a nice distraction and I tried to think of her and Shea when I went to bed that night; knowing that if I thought of Vaughn I'd be too full of anticipatory excitement to get any sleep. I made sure to set my alarm for the morning, 6AM sharp, so I'd have time to do my chores before Vaughn got in on the 9AM boat. I wasn't planning on buying any more animals this week, so he can't have too much work to do and I thought I might be able to spend a decent portion of it with him. Just because, y'know, he's only here two days a week. I totally wouldn't be this needy if he lived here full time…

The beeping of my alarm annoyed me for about one second before I remembered why I'd set it and leapt out of bed and towards my shower, then backtracked to get dressed after realising there's no point in showering before doing the animals, then came to a standstill when I realised there's no point in getting dressed if I was just going to shower afterwards. So that morning saw me watering my crops and brushing my animals in my pyjamas, with no one around to judge. _Then_ I had a leisurely shower, _blow dried_ my hair – something I never bother to do – and decided to dress in something different – a floaty skirt and a tank top – for once seeing as my chores were done and the weather was hot. I thought I might be able to convince Vaughn to go to the meadow with me where he could shade under a tree and I could lie in the sun and suck up its heat like a lizard. So maybe I was still a little bit in Brit On Holiday Mode, that wasn't going to stop me from taking advantage whilst I could. I grabbed the milk I'd put aside for him and rushed to Mirabelle's where I had another crisis.

Was it too forward to go and wait on the beach for him? Should I wait inside the store? Or would it be even creepier if he came home to find me lurking about?

"Good mornin', dear. You're looking lovely today." Came a voice from behind me and I turned to see Mirabelle putting her sandwich board outside. "Oh is that for Vaughn?" She asked knowingly, gesturing towards the milk I was clutching. "Why don't you wait for him by the dock? I'm sure he'd appreciate that. And I'll take that and make some porridge with it – it's his favourite, y'know." Her eyes were twinkling in an embarrassing – for me – way so I just nodded, thrust the milk at her, and hurried away to the beach. 10 minutes until his boat arrived!

The ferry was already visible when I reached the end of the pier and I could make out Vaughn out front on deck, imposing as ever in head to toe black. My face split into a grin that I couldn't control and my hands rose into the air without my commanding them to; waving like a lunatic as the boat approached. I saw Vaughn raise one hand to wave back and cover his face with the other. I guess I had embarrassed him. Sorry, not sorry.

The boat pulled in and the sailors scrabbled to moor it. I was bouncing on my feet impatiently, frustrated with being able to see Vaughn but not touch him and I had to remind myself that this time last week he and I had touched once – _once_ – and that I should probably be worried how addicted I already was, but emotions had always deepened quickly on this island and who was I to contradict that?

 _Maybe it's this Harvest Goddess's hocus pocus or something_ I thought wryly to myself. Finally the boat was stable enough for Vaughn to climb over and here he was, back on the island at last.

\- Vaughn -

Sweet lord this girl was beautiful. It hit me in one load how much I'd missed her this past week; same old day in, day out, sleep; work; sleep; work…I came here and Chelsea gave me a breath of fresh air, and even if she weren't on an island, but instead in my apartment back in the city, I still knew the effect would be the same. Looking at her now, I felt like a man in a desert looking at a glass of water; my eyes were _drinking_ her in. She was wearin' a skirt instead of her usual shorts, and though the shorts showed more leg, the skirt looked prettier, and there was somethin' different about her hair though I couldn't tell what. It looked good though. Softer and less tangled, though the sea breeze was doing a number on it now – blowing it every which way across her face and shoulders and she looked stunning for it.

"Ya did better this time, Partner." She drawled as I stepped over onto the pier without falling flat on my face. I rolled my eyes. God, I'd missed her.

Putting on my thickest accent I replied, "Now, I can't see your pretty face if I'm lyin' on this here ground, can I darlin'?" just because I knew it would shut her up and it did for all of two seconds before she grinned and threw back,

"Well I don't got no excuse to feel your strong arms round me if you don't fall, do I?" Her attempt at southern was horrendous and all I could think was _you're making it pretty easy to fall, Chels_ so I said nothing and just wrapped my arms around her, pulling her in and thinking back to two months ago when I'd first held her close to me to stop her from falling. _I hope I'm doing the complete opposite this time_ I thought and hooked my chin over the top of her head, sighing as I felt contentment seep into my bones and tension seep out. I could have stayed like that for a long time – breathing Chelsea in and feeling her replace the air in my lungs – but we only got to hug for about five seconds before the other passengers started disembarking behind me. Damned tourists.

"So fill me in." I said as we walked down the pier to the beach where we slowed so she could walk a bit awkwardly on the sand in the sandals she'd adorned today rather than her usual boots. I felt an unusual starvation of conversation; this need to have her talk to me and for me to actually talk back. I wanted to tell her about my week – boring as it had been – and give her the dress which I had bought and tell her about the new lamb that had been born at work because I knew she'd think it was cute. It was all novel and bizarre and I didn't know what to do with the feeling. I don't think I'd ever felt this _chatty_ before, or if I had, I had been too young to remember it. She reached out for my arm under the guise of needing support to walk, but I knew Chels and I knew the last thing this girl ever needed was help physically. I gave her my arm willingly and used it to tug her close to me so there was no mistaking my intention of the action. She grinned and blushed as she started to talk.

"Well, I got the last bridge fixed to the jungle and went there exploring with Lanna. We met a native, Shea, who Lanna's basically head over tits for. It's really peculiar, but they work well together. I also went round the forest and found this gorgeous lake and a woman who lives in a house nearby there, but I can tell you about that later. Oh! And I got my house upgraded! And Gannon's daughter – _yeah_ , I know, weird, huh? – but his daughter moved here to live with him because he finally had enough money to build her a room with some fancy lumber. All this time I thought I'd been helping out by chopping up my own, when really I'd been depriving him of income so he had to put off his own _daughter's_ arrival! I mean, I wouldn't have minded if he'd said something…" she trailed off and looked up at me sheepishly. "Sorry, you don't want to hear me natter on. I know talking's not really your thing." We'd reached Gannon's house – and I could see the expansion he'd done on it; a few walls now a glittering golden color compared to the grayish brown of the rest of it – and I pulled her to stop off the path so the tourists could pass.

"It's different with you, Chels." I told her seriously. " _I'm_ different with you." Instead of looking happy like I thought she might have, she bit her bottom lip and sent a worried expression my way.

"I don't want you having to be different around me, Vaughn." I had a flashback to the conversation between her and Denny I'd heard months ago and smiled at her.

"I don't _have_ to be anything around you." I replied. "And that's what makes me different around you. It's a good thing, cowgirl. The me around you is…actually not all that bad. The other me is a bit of a dick." My aim was fulfilled when she laughed at my words – and since when had I learnt how to predict what someone else would find funny? – and tugged me into movement again.

"They're both you." She said conversationally. "You could easily be the you you are around me, around others as well, if you wanted to."

"Well it's a darn good thing I don't want to, isn't it?" I said as I held open Mirabelle's door for her. "Then I might just become so popular you'd have to share me." As we walked in, my nose twitched and decorum went out the window as I yelled out. "Aunt Bella! Is that porridge I smell?!" I grabbed Chelsea's hand and dragged her to the kitchen with me to be greeted by the best sight in the world – next to my Chels on the dock waiting for my boat to come in that is. Two steaming hot bowls of porridge, a pot of brown sugar and a pot of honey all waiting in an empty kitchen. _Good food and good company_ I thought as I threw myself down in the nearest chair and immediately started piling honey into my bowl. "Porridge is nectar of the gods." I said as I scooped the first delicious spoonful into my mouth. Porridge in the city with all its microwaveable abilities just wasn't the same. Chelsea rolled her eyes.

"I swear this is the most enthusiastic I've seen you, and it's over a bowl of slop." The _last_ thing porridge was was _slop_ , but she'd got all dressed up today and met my boat so I let it slide. "Slop made with my milk though." She grinned. "I bumped into Mirabelle before reaching the beach."

"That must be why it's better than normal." I winked – _winked_ – and she snorted.

"You're in a really good mood today." She commented. "It's…really nice to see actually."

"I can bring more than a good mood to the table today." I said as I picked up the knapsack I'd dropped by my chair when sitting down. Chelsea looked at me curiously and I was struck by a wave of nerves. I've never seen her in a dress before – today was the first time that I'd seen her in anything other than shorts. Did she even like dresses? What type of dress did she like? What if I'd got the size wrong? What if she just didn't like it full stop? I pulled it out my bag – the store clerk had gift wrapped it in tissue paper with a wink – and pushed it over the table to her, grabbing the rim of my hat and pulling it as far over my face as it would go.

"What is it?" She asked, picking it up and turning it over in her hands. I wasn't a nervous talker – instead I went silent when anxious – so I just shrugged and waited for her to get the hint and open it. She waited for a few seconds, then literally tore the wrapping in half. I snorted internally, _take that, store clerk_ , and peeked out from under the rim of my hat to watch her reaction. "Oh." she breathed as she unfolded the dress inside. She stood up and held it up to her body and I felt relieved to see that it looked about the right size. "Vaughn, it's _gorgeous_." She held it to her with one hand on the stomach and one on the chest, then twirled on the spot. "Oh, I have to go try it on!" she cried and then ran out the room towards my own. I blinked after her then turned back to my porridge. I guess she likes the dress then.

"Psst!" I heard. I turned around and saw Julia hanging out her bedroom door and beckoning me over.

"What?" I asked as I moved over to her.

"Shhh! Chelsea's only down the corridor!" She whispered urgently. "Have you asked her yet?"

"Asked her what?" I whispered back, looking over my shoulder towards my room. The door was shut.

"Asked her _out_."

"What? _Now_?" I whipped back round to face Julia.

"Yes _now._ How are you guys not official yet?"

"I've only seen the girl for an hour since I got back! We're doing our own thing, Jules, leave off." I wasn't going to admit to her that it was actually something I'd been planning on doing this week. Distance makes the heart grow fonder and all that and after seeing her this morning I honestly felt like I couldn't go back to the city tomorrow night in good conscience unless I'd at least tried and got some form of reply from her.

"You telling me the flirting I heard didn't mean anything?"

"Of course it meant something, we've just not put a label to it yet. Wait, have you been hiding in there the entire time?"

"Ma and I were camping out in my room to give you guys some space. We thought you might finally _do_ something about Chelsea's single status."

"Aunt _Bella_ 's in there too?" I asked. At the mention of her name, Mirabelle moved into the background and waved at me.

"Mornin' dear. Did you have a good ride over?"

"Yeah, it was fine…but no, what the fuck is this? The least interactive intervention ever?"

"Oh whatever Vaughn. Now go away before she comes back, and ask her to be your girlfriend for Christ's sake!" Julia hissed and I glared at her.

"If I'm askin' her anything, I'm askin' her for _me_ not for you." Julia's face softened and she whispered a soft,

"I know." before literally pushing me away and shutting the door in my face. Well.

I turned around in time to see my door open and this stunning creature of a woman come gliding out.

"Damn, Chels." I croaked, not even slightly embarrassed at my staring – anyone would have to stop and look at her passing them in the street…maybe it wasn't such a good idea to get her the dress afterall. God knew she could do better than an old grouch like me and I didn't need to be encouraging any other potential admirers in her direction. She started to move towards me, but I beat her to it, meeting her in my doorway and holding her at arm's length.

"What d'you think?" She asked, holding the skirt lightly and twisting from side to side to make it billow.

" _I_ think you should never leave the house wearing it or you'll be mobbed." I replied as she giggled, "but I think _you_ think you should leave right now and show it off to the entire island."

"You know me too well, Partner." She grinned, ducking back into my room to grab her clothes. "To the farm, then to the meadow!" She cried as she darted out the house. "I've been extra kind and decided not to give you any business to do this week, so you've got _all_ today and tomorrow to spend with me."

"You know, I think that repays my gift completely." I agreed, not really caring that my hand had been forced and all my free time had disappeared in a matter of seconds. Was it only a week ago that I was thinking about how dating someone is awful because I'd have no alone time? It felt like so much longer.

We dropped off Chelsea's other clothes at her house and I spent some time with the animals outside in their pens as Chels bustled around inside. On our way to the meadow – our apparently agreed on destination – she asked me about my week and I told her about the lamb that had been born. This led to a heated one sided rant on the horrors of killing lambs for meat and therefore led to the discovery that Chelsea is pescetarian. Apparently even that had been a matter of necessity when moving to the island, otherwise she would still be as vegetarian as she had been before. Personally I never understood how people could not like meat, though I guess it put a moral spin on things for new ranchers if you were expected to raise the animals you eat. She then asked about the chance of getting a sheep onto the island for her to buy and I told her I'd talk to Mirabelle and my boss back in the city.

When we reached the meadow, Chels laid out a rug she'd brought and proceeded to lie down in preparation to toast herself.

"Put some on." I grunted as I threw my bottle of sun cream on her stomach. She smiled at me sheepishly and rubbed some of it into her exposed skin and face before throwing it back to me. I rolled my eyes and went to sit under the nearest tree, reapplying the cream just to be safe. I knew it probably wasn't wise to be outside so much but I wasn't about to keep Chelsea chained to indoor areas when the weather was so nice just because of my needs. A silence overtook us as she settled into sunbathing mode, and I dipped my hat and shut my eyes, just listening to the waves around us and appreciating the warmth of the sun as best I could. We must have been there for hours – only breaking the silence to have a small lunch that Chels had packed – before leaving it to descend again and just enjoying the physical presence of one another.

The thing that raised me from my meditation was a squeak from Chelsea. I looked up and squinted against the sudden glare of light.

"It's starting to rain." She explained, rubbing her face where a drop must have fell. As she mentioned it, I saw some more darken the soil around the tree I was under. They steadily got heavier over the next minute as Chelsea hurriedly packed up her rug.

"I've left the animals outside grazing, they'll get sick." She rushed out, coming over to my tree and tugging me up. A raincloud covered the sun and I peered up at the dark gray thing and saw that it covered the sky as far as I could see. Chels was already running back over the bridge and into East town, and I stumbled to hurry after her; my helping her get the animals inside an unspoken given.

By the time we reached West town, the rain was a deluge, absolutely pissing down and the wind was picking up angrily. Boy, were we in for a nasty shower. We pelted it across the deserted streets and onto her farmland to see Gwen angrily trying to shelter herself under the slight overhang of the barn roof, and the chickens huddled up against each other, clucking grumpily.

"I'll get Aras and Arlette." Chelsea panted, scooping them up in her arms and kicking open the coop doors. That left me with Gwen and I opened the heavy door of the barn before slapping her lightly on her rump to get her moving.

"Come on, girl, in we get to the warm and dry." I said, pushing her lightly to navigate her in. The wind was getting angry outside and was making the doors slam open and shut in the wind. I made sure Gwen was in and wasn't going to follow me out – unlikely given the baleful glare she was giving the entrance of the barn – and ran back outside to see where Chelsea had got to.

What had started as a rain shower had escalated quickly, and the first fork of lightning lit the sky just as I was slamming the doors to the barn shut. Chelsea had already finished with Aras and Arlette and was instead staring at the waves throwing themselves against the cliff on the west side of her land. You could normally see the mine from here, but the rain was so thick that it was barely visible. The sky lit up again and I shut my eyes at the glare; seeing the imprint on the inside of my eyelids. I opened them and the echo of the lightning covered my vision so I could barely see Chelsea as she started walking towards the cliffs. Not for the first time I wish I had normal vision and I slapped through the mud to grab the girl before she could accidentally fall off the side. Could she not see that she was going in the complete wrong direction?

"Chels, come on, let's get inside." I said as I tugged her behind me towards her house; avoiding the flapping crops and dragging her round the edge of her field. She wasn't running with me and she didn't really seem all that present when I looked over my shoulder to check on her; one hand holding my hat in place. Her feet and sandals were caked in mud; some of it splattered up on the base of her dress, yet she was still walking at a sedate pace, leaning back as if my grip on her arm and the wind at her back were the only things keeping her upright. I didn't get it, she was _literally_ just okay; taking the chickens inside and worrying over whether they were going to get sick. Then the lightning started and – _oh_. I did some mental weather checks in my head and realised that there was probably a significant chance that this was the first typhoon the island had seen since the one that stranded Chelsea here in the first place. God knew what was going on inside her head right now – or what she was seeing because it sure as hell wasn't me or the farm.

We reached the door and I pushed her in first before following. She moved into the center of the room as I struggled to shove the door shut, dead-bolting it and looking for something else to prop against it just in case. I heard a quiet murmur start up behind me and I turned; hoping it was Chelsea talking about making some hot milk and lighting a fire or something. No dice.

"Why am I here, _why_ am I here?" She muttered to herself as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms like she was cold. "I don't deserve it, I should be dead, I should just go, disappear, I should die, why aren't I _dead_ I _should be dead_." Suddenly she dug her nails right into her own arms and dragged them up and down in quick succession; skin turning pink, then splotchy, then wet as she took away layers of it.

"Chelsea!" I ran to her, figuring the door was secure enough. The wind was crashing outside as I tried to grab hold of Chelsea's hands to stop her from clawing at herself, but she struggled so badly that I thought my grip would do more harm than good if I tightened it so I let go, only for her to run over to the bookcase and tear it away from the wall – books flying everywhere. She was scratching at her stomach now; leaving bloody finger prints on the fabric as she started sobbing about things being inside her, fat tears rolling down her face.

"Chels!" I cried in alarm as she blindly tugged the case out the way, falling to her hands and knees and scrabbling through the books until she was tucked up in the tiniest ball possible, right in the corner. She dragged her hand down her throat once, hard, then returned her hands to her arms. I thought she might start scratching herself again now that she was stationary, but instead it was like every muscle in her body just relaxed and she sat there staring into nothing.

I could hear cracking noises from the trees surrounding her farmland; great, loud, terrifying whips of sound over the howling of the wind and the crashing of the waves against the cliffs, but the only noises from inside the house were the wet inhales of Chelsea as she breathed in through a snotty nose.

"Chelsea." I said softly as I sat right in front of her. Her eyes automatically refocused on me but I wasn't sure how much her brain was picking up from her optical nerves just then. I reached out and placed one hand on her shoulder, the other against the angry pink marks on her neck, thumb rubbing softly at them. Thankfully they were just irritated skin and not proper scratches like the ones on her arms. "Chels, it's gonna be okay." I was speaking to her like I spoke to spooked horses; slowly and clearly and as gently as possible. "You're doing great here. You've brought the island back to life. Why are you here? Because no one else I know would be able to do the job you're doing. Because without you here the island would have lost its own personal sun. Because if you left, disappeared or died, the island would collapse again and I would, too." I took hold of her wrists and unwrapped her arms from around herself, worried at how pliant she was. Her legs were tucked up under her chin and I pulled them apart and down so I could get a bit closer to her. Her skirt had ridden right up and I could see her underwear, but I just pulled it back down to cover her up. This wasn't about ogling the privates of the girl I liked, this was about making sure she was okay because right now I was fucking terrified. "You are so strong." I continued as I pulled her into me by her waist; her legs shifting lifelessly to the side at what must have been an uncomfortable angle. "You are _so_ strong and I couldn't possibly know what you're going through or what's running through that head of yours, but you are so necessary to this island and to _me._ I wasn't here when you arrived, but if you want to talk about it and get it out that way then I'll listen and if you don't, then I'll make sure that I'm here for every damn storm this island will ever mean so much to me, Chels, and I don't know how to get that message across to the brain that lives in here." I kissed her temple. I felt her muscles tensing as she started to try to hold herself upright; consciousness returning to her head. I recognised the moment she realised where she was and what she had done by her suddenly trying to pull away from me in panic. "Shhh, you'll hurt yourself more." I said quietly as I grabbed whatever flailing limb I could and pulled her right into my lap, trying to cover as much of her body with mine as possible.

"Oh my God." She breathed and it was weird how much of a difference there was between the voice of someone talking to themselves and that of someone who was aware there was another person in the room with them. "Oh my God." She repeated and then turned in my arms to bury herself in my chest. Great, heaving sobs took over her body and she even sounded a bit like a horse as she breathed in; high pitched notes running through her gasps and wet saliva bubbles popping. "I didn't even know them." She sobbed out. "It hurts so much and I didn't even know them, but there were people who _did_ and now they'll never know them again and yet here I am living a life that they should have." I squeezed her close to me and shut my eyes at the sounds of her pain.

"You may not have known them well, but you met them and that's a great honour, cowgirl." I soothed. "They did a brave thing sailing that boat that day and y'all did a brave thing by retrieving them and giving them a proper burial. They'll be lookin' down at you happy that you did the best by them you could. Anyone who knew them should be proud to have known them, and I'm sure their family and friends are. Don't you be sitting there thinking that you're being ungrateful by moving on with your life and turning the misfortune of then into a success today. Life is for the living, Chels." I don't think I'd ever spoken so many words in one sitting in my life than I had tonight, but it was worth it to see Chelsea chill out and take some deep breaths to calm herself. She wiped her nose and eyes on her wrist as she pulled back; looking surprisingly alright for someone who had just been lost in a flashback. She was a bit pale, apart from her nose and patches around her eyes which were red; her bandana had slipped to the back of her head; heavy with water but getting caught in the tangles the wind had created in her wet hair and the scratches stood out in stark contrast to the peaky pallor of her skin…but her eyes were bright and aware and not chasing shadows anymore, so I thought she looked a hell of a lot better.

"I'm so sorry." She said, the remorse running deep in her expression. "I had no idea that was going to happen or I wouldn't have let you hang around to witness it." I felt my heart leap in a little panicked alarm at the thought of what could have happened if I hadn't been here. She had been walking towards the fucking _cliff_.

" _Never_ apologise for something like this." I said firmly, grasping her shoulders and looking her in the eye. "I don't even want to think of all the ways you could have killed yourself tonight if I hadn't been here." She flinched at the words 'killed yourself' and I figured she must have heard similar things from Elliot back when she was at her worst. The kid had gone up in my estimations; not that he'd been low before – how could he be when I knew he was likely the reason Chelsea had been around for me to meet? – but having witnessed the sort of thing he'd had to deal with…Jesus it was petrifying. The guy had more guts than I gave him credit for.

Chelsea nodded meekly. "I still wish it hadn't happened. I thought I was _over_ this. I feel so…so _pathetic_. And embarrassed. God I wish you hadn't seen all that. I'm such a fucking mess." I was surprised to hear the cuss come out her mouth. I could count the number of times I'd heard her swear on one hand and I realised how mortified she must feel. I tried to imagine myself in her shoes – having a complete mental breakdown and having her witness it all.

"Messes are good." I replied before I really knew where I was going with the idea. "Messes can be tidied. I knew you'd had a tough time of it, Chels. Julia told me the general gist last week and I'd be surprised if you never had any sort of repercussion from the accident sneak up on you. It doesn't matter to me if you're a mess. I know how you are normally and I get that this is a blip that you'll want to forget all about, but you'll have to forgive me if I don't forget it because this is a new side of you that I've learnt about tonight and I wanna learn about all the sides of you I can."

She met my gaze and just looked at me for a few seconds before throwing herself at me. My hat flew off my head – I don't even know how it had stayed on all this time to be honest – and the next thing I knew, I had one arm out behind me to keep me upright, one wrapped around her waist to keep her steady and her lips pressed against mine to keep – _nope, wait, this action was all hers_. Her lips were warm and her face still a bit damp as I eased us back up to sitting; the hand that had been propping us up now moving to cup her face. She pulled away and looked at me again. "Thank you." She murmured, and I had to strain to hear it over the noise of the storm still raging outside. "I don't know what I – you have no idea how much – I – just – thank you." I smiled for the first time in a while and stroked her blushing cheekbone with my thumb.

"You don't need to thank me, darlin'." I drawled. "Though I won't say no to more of them kisses." She smiled and came across all properly shy for the first time since I'd met her. I leaned in and slid my nose against the side of hers, gently nudging her face upwards a bit, my hand around her waist trailing up her back by my fingertips to tangle in her hair. "Don't hide from me." I mumbled, "I wanna see it all." I touched my lips to hers and moved them lightly against hers; our mouths disconnecting and reconnecting with soft sounds. Exhaling heavily through my nose, I pulled her into me tightly and pressed my mouth against hers hard and long before drawing back to look at her. The red on the skin around her eyes had gone down, though her nose – and now cheeks – were still pink, her hair drying quickly albeit messily. "God, Chels. You have no idea what you do to me." I breathed, pulling my other hand out her hair – it was going to need a comb before I could run it through – and bringing it up to her face to mirror the other one. "You've been looking so damn gorgeous all day and then you have to go and show me your matching personality and it's too much on a guy, y'know?" One hand moved to her neck where I could feel her breathing very shallowly as the index finger on my other ran over one eyebrow, then back round to sweep down her nose and rest on the corner of her mouth. One way or another, I swore this mouth would be the end of me. I traced her lower lip and it rolled out under my touch. Shit, I needed to feel it against my own again. "I don't think I've known full sanity since I met you." I said and then swooped in to steal another kiss, then another, then another; not being able to stay away; going back for more again and again until she started giggling against my mouth.

"You know, I'd been wanting a dog to help with Gwen, but I think I've found my very own puppy tonight." she said softly, grinning, and I tried to kiss her smile – but ended up mostly kissing her teeth – because anything that lit someone up like that had to have some form of energy I could absorb and I wanted any part of this girl I could get inside me. We sat like that for a while; Chelsea burying her head in my neck and wrapping her legs around my waist. I held her tightly and we listened to the storm outside – heavy rain drops pelting the roof, thumps as the wind picked items up and lobbed them across the open field – taking some time to remind ourselves that we were alright; we were together and we were safe.

Time ticked on and eventually I shifted, murmuring that we should probably tidy up and eat something before it got too late. She nodded and scooted off my lap and I took it upon myself to heave up the empty bookcase and push it back into the corner.

"Oh, Vaughn." I heard her voice from behind me. I turned to see her looking down at herself in dismay – the mud; the blood; the dried scratches on her arms. "The dress you bought me." She looked like she was about to cry again, so I shoved the books I was holding into any old place on the shelf and took her hands.

"I don't care about that." I told her, making sure she was looking at me to see my sincerity. "There'll be other dresses, Chels, but there's only one you." She still looked upset with herself, but she nodded and leant up on tip-toes to press a soft kiss against my lips. Seems like I wasn't the only one hooked on kisses.

We set about grabbing up books from the floor and putting them back where they belonged, though some were wet and muddy and required drying out a bit before they could be put back. I was brushing dried up mud off the last one when I read the title _The Brilliant Book of Baby Names_.

"Getting a bit ahead of ourselves, are we?" I asked with a raised brow, holding up the book for her to see. She blushed a brilliant red.

"I – it's not – animals – I got it for animal names before I found the other one!" She stuttered out and I laughed, sliding it into place and then moving to wrap my arms around her. Now we'd crossed the barrier of 'just friends' it seemed I couldn't stay away.

"Mmm. I believe you." I said neutrally, leaving it to her to figure out if I was being sarcastic or not. "Now why don't you go run yourself a bath and I'll set about makin' us something to eat?"

"A man who cleans _and_ cooks!" She grinned at me impishly. "Remind me to keep you." I felt myself blush and scowled at her, letting go and waving her towards her bathroom before turning to the fridge and rummaging for something to make a nice stew with.

~.oOo.~

The storm raged on late into the evening and Chelsea ordered me to stay at hers. I didn't need telling twice – the prospect of leaving her warm house and warmer company to battle it with the wind and rain outside wasn't particularly inviting. Once we'd eaten dinner, she ushered me into the bathroom to have a shower and did the cleaning up for me as I rinsed away the mud and stress of the day. She had come out her bath in her pyjamas – something other than the cow onesie – and so I just pulled my boxers back on after my shower, smirking as I realised they were ones she'd already seen; satin and purple.

The lights had been switched off and the embers in the fireplace guarded when I re-entered the living room, so I moved through the house to her room to say goodnight.

"You're not sleeping out there." She told me when I poked my head round her door to see her already in bed, sitting up and writing in a notebook by the dim light of her bedside lamp. "My bed's big enough to share if you don't mind squishing a little bit." She grinned. I think I'd made it pretty obvious over the course of the evening that I didn't mind 'squishing a little bit'.

"You sure?" I asked, not fighting too hard seeing as I was shattered and her bed really was more inviting than her lumpy old couch.

"I don't know about you cowboys," she started with an eyeroll, "but us London girls know how to share a bed with someone without accidentally having sex with them during the night." I rolled my eyes back at her and slid under the covers next to her, winding an arm around her back and pushing my head into her shoulder. We sat like that for a few minutes; me pressing kisses to her t-shirt covered shoulder; her writing away in the notebook, before I found myself impatient of the silence.

"Whatcha writin'?" I asked.

"Diary." She replied vacantly, flipping a page. Silence fell for a few more seconds.

"Whatcha writin' about?" She smiled despite herself.

"The storm. And you." I hummed.

"Nice things?"

"Only the best for my cowboy." Mm, I liked that. _Her_ cowboy. _And my cowgirl_ I thought. We went quiet again.

"Storm's not really lettin' up is it?" She sighed and looked up from the notebook.

"Vaughn, you're not all that talkative of a person, so I don't want to discourage you from doing it when you're in the mood to and I don't want to be the type of person who tells you to shut up when you're talking too much, so if you could just realise it on your own that'd be a great help." And the pen started scratching again. I should probably have felt affronted at her words, but instead I found myself smiling into her shoulder and pressing more kisses against it. Eventually the notebook got shut and put away in her bedside table drawer and the light was turned off. She shifted down and rested against my chest for a while, just lying there and tracing patterns in time with my breathing, but eventually we swapped positions and I relaxed into the little spoon position, being lulled to sleep by her heart beat.

~.oOo.~

I woke up at some point in the night to groans and retching noises next to me and semi-consciously reached around, feeling for Chelsea. I pulled her shuddering body into mine and pressed a kiss against her forehead whispering,

"It's just a nightmare, Chels. I got you." She quivered for a little while longer, but awoke from the dream to whisper a quiet,

"Thank you." and I counted it as progress that it wasn't an apology.

~.oOo.~

\- Chelsea -

I woke up to the pitter-patter of rain but no roaring wind or grand crashes of waves against the rocks. Last night came back to me when I realised that I was lying on someone. My heart sank as I remembered breaking down in front of Vaughn – no matter how well he took it, I think I'd always feel embarrassed of being so out of my mind. It was scary for me to think of in retrospect and must have been even more terrifying for him to witness. I felt my mood lighten as I recalled what had happened after and how we'd ended up in the position we were currently lying in.

"Urhh." My cowboy groaned as he slowly woke up to hear the sound of the rain. "Vote to stay in bed all day?" He asked, accent so thick with sleep it took me a few seconds to decipher what he said. I laughed when I did and leant up to kiss his chin – _I can't believe I can do that now. I can't believe_ I _had the guts to start this whole thing rolling_. I ran my fingers down his stubbly cheek as I replied.

"We have animals to apologise to and I've crops to salvage. But I suppose we can lie in for…" I trailed off as my fingers continued down his neck and felt a bump under them. Looking down from his face to where my fingers were, I saw a long raised white scar running horizontally along his throat. "Vaughn, your neck…" I said softly, question implied. I expected him to tense or leap out of bed and scarper out into the rain or something, but instead it was like he completely melted into the mattress and let out a long, pain-weary sigh that I felt vibrate under my fingers.

"It's a long story." He said, sounding exhausted, and I merely nodded, absently stroking the scar and wondering if he would tell me or if we weren't there yet. "I had to have surgery when I was a kid." He said haltingly. "The scar's stretched as I got older."

"What happened?" I ventured, pressing a gentle kiss against the mark. _Now_ he did tense and I knew that today wouldn't be the day I heard the entire explanation.

"Crushed windpipe." His grunt was all he was going to say on the matter.

"How come you didn't wear your neckerchief last night?" I asked against his skin; lips lingering on the scar for a few more seconds before I pulled away. I wanted him to know that it didn't repulse me, but I didn't want to make him uncomfortable either. He actually huffed in a short laugh at my question and I looked up to see him smiling down at me.

"How d'you expect me to remember something like that when a pretty thing like you had finally fallen into my arms?" He asked, pulling me into his body for emphasis. I felt my face split in two at his words, feeling the happiest – and probably looking the goofiest – I could remember being for a long time.

"You make a good argument." I hummed, letting my hands continue down as they ran across his shoulders and down his arms.

"Now I believe you were sayin' somethin' about lyin' in?" He said to me lowly, rolling us over and looking down at me with heavy lidded eyes. My heart boom-thudded quickly and my eyes fell shut as he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine. I let a shuddery breath out my nose and pushed back against his mouth. My tongue came out to trace his lips and he opened his to let his tongue meet mine, his weight suddenly lying on me as his arms slackened and his hands moved to slide up my waist; pushing my shirt up and leaving his fingers to trace up and down my sides. His touch only encouraged me and I flicked my tongue against his, sliding my hands around his neck and working my way into his mouth. He tasted kind of stale – as to be expected first thing in the morning, I guess – but I'm sure I tasted the same and he wasn't complaining so I didn't let it bother me. Embrace nature and all that. Speaking of…our hips had pressed together when he had lowered himself onto me and I slowly became aware that we were both aroused and both _so totally not ready for this yet_ so I calmed the kiss back down and pulled away, catching his face with a palm before he could dip down and start pressing kisses against my neck.

"We should really, _really_ get out of bed now." I said breathlessly and he blushed when he noticed what I was talking about.

"Ah." He replied, rolling off me but not being able to completely disengage – one hand still on my waist under my shirt as he lay on his side and looked at me. I was glad, seeing as I couldn't seem to keep my hands off him either.

I think we stayed in bed for at least another hour, just quietly talking and moving hands against skin and lips against one another's. We couldn't stay away from each other and I wondered if this was what people meant when they talked about a honeymoon period in relationships, because it was really inconvenient when you're trying to run a farm.

~.oOo.~

Vaughn hung around long enough to help put Aras, Arlette and Gwen in a good mood and to check them over to make sure none of them had got sick. I spent the morning harvesting what I could recover from my battered crops and trying to replant some which looked salvageable, getting thoroughly soaked in the rain that had lingered overnight. Not much could dampen my spirits though, especially not when Vaughn finished with the animals and came outside, leaning against the fence and watching me with this little smile on his face. He stayed for lunch, then took his leave to go and face the hounds at home. His words, not mine. Still feeling pretty wrecked after the day before, I spent the afternoon inside, warming up and drying off, putting my new dress through the wash twice. The blood had stained the _tiniest_ amount, but I figured I could ask Chen to get some Vanish in or something similar and then I wouldn't have to worry. The rain let up at around 5 and I hurried out the house to the beach in order to say goodbye to Vaughn. I thought I'd miss him last week when things were still tentative flirtations between us, but _now_ I knew I was going to miss him like crazy. He looked haggard as he made his way onto the beach, the ship horn blowing in the distance as it breached the horizon.

"Julia being a nightmare?" I asked as I reached out and laced our fingers together. He rested his chin on my head and sighed heavily.

"Never been worse." He agreed woefully. "She teases like she's funny whereas really she's just being irritatin'." I huffed out a laugh and moved into his body.

"I'm going to miss you." I admitted, nuzzling into his collarbone a bit. He pulled away and dug into his pocket, pulling out a piece of paper.

"And I, you. So here." He grabbed my other hand and placed the scrap into the palm of it; curling my fingers over it before the wind could blow it out to sea. "Call me if it gets to be too much." The horn of the ship blew as it slowly pulled into port.

"You're giving me your number?" I asked, grinning, "I think we've done this a bit backwards."

"If it works; it works." He shrugged, then started walking to the pier with me trotting at his side. He turned to face me and just stared at me for a while. I used the time to try and take in all the details of his face that I wouldn't get to see for a week and I guessed he was doing the same. I brought up a hand and ran it down his cheek; he closed his eyes and turned his face into it, sighing heavily.

"Hey now." I said, not wanting our goodbye to be so solemn. "It's only a week. It'll fly before you know it."

"Maybe for you." He grouched, knowing how busy and lost in my farmwork I got. "I got nothing other than a half-empty apartment and a job full of damn hicks waitin' to greet me back there." I wondered why he didn't ask to spend more time on the island then, but I didn't think right now would be the most sensible time to try to have that conversation. New tourists were disembarking off the boat behind us and I knew we had to hurry or he'd miss his chance to get on board.

"Well then I'll just have to nip back home and leave you a voicemail to greet you back before you arrive, won't I?" I replied, untangling myself from him. "Now go jump on that boat so you can come back to me." He smiled at me, swooped down and pressed a solid kiss against my mouth, and then climbed over the edge of the boat, leaning over the side to give me a few more pecks as I moved closer to the edge and the crew untied the ship in the background.

"Six more days." He said, reaching out and brushing my face as the crew cast off from the pier.

"Six more days." I confirmed and waited on the beach until he was a speck in the distance, before jogging back home to leave him that voicemail.

 **Chapter End.**

 **A/N** **: I fuckin' love Shea and Lanna together. I've not looked for fics where they're a couple and I don't know if m/any exist, but I figured they made more sense than Denny and Lanna and who needs canon couples, really? And I know the storm scene is overdone, but I feel like I put a bit of an original twist on it. I've always been surprised with how little the shipwreck affects Chelsea in other fics, and I thought this was more realistic.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5.**

\- Chelsea -

I spent the next few days ignoring all my duties – apart from the animals and planting a few new crops to replace the ones the storm destroyed – and avoiding Julia like the plague. This led to me spending a fair amount of time in the forest, sitting by the lake and bumping into Witch Princess a couple of times. I was still respectfully wary around her – the woman could do _magic_ – but was learning to treat her like a normal person. One day she had been ranting about the Harvest Goddess and a dream and I had questioned her about the Goddess, seeing as she was _always_ mentioning her. She had huffed, and taken me to the lake before picking up the muddiest stone she could find and chucking it in.

"Taa-daa!" A female voice called and a beautiful woman appeared in a flash of light. She had green hair and green eyes and wore this pretty blue boob-tube thing with a long skirt. She was gorgeous, but then I guess when you're a goddess you can make yourself look however you want. She looked at me curiously but I just gaped at her and she turned her attentions to Witch Princess. "Oh. It's you." She looked disappointed, but then slapped on a smile. "Long time no see, Princess! How are you doing?" Witch Princess had scowled and said something about her being a liar, but had then gestured roughly at me.

"Chelsea wanted to know who you were." She grouched. "And now she knows so you can go away."

"It's lovely to meet you, Chelsea." The Goddess had said to me and I gathered myself together enough to smile and return the sentiment. "My sprites and I have been watching your progress closely over these past months and we're very impressed. You've truly brought this island back to life. Should you ever find yourself in need of help with your farm work, knock on the door to the little pink hut on your land and help will be provided. For future reference, I don't much like rocks as offerings." She'd smiled again, glanced at Witch Princess and then disappeared in another flash of light.

The event inspired me to visit the lake more often and I started dropping flowers and spare eggs in to get her to come up and talk to me. She explained to me about the various farms she looked over across the world and how she only showed herself to specific people. I asked her if that meant I couldn't tell Vaughn about her and she'd laughed a tinkling laugh and said that maybe right now wasn't the best time, but that in the future there'd come an event so unexplainable that I would know it would be the right time to tell him. She refused to talk anymore on the subject other than to say she had prophetic powers and could see the current paths in the future that people were heading down, but she wouldn't ever tell me about them.

"Where's the fun in that?" She had asked. _The fun is in security_ I had thought grumpily, but overall I guess I agreed that I didn't want to know my future. It would make life pretty dull.

After a few days of regular visits to the forest – making sure to split my time evenly between Witch Princess and the Goddess – on my way home from the lake I bumped into two strangers.

"Hello!" I greeted them; a girl who looked around my age and a middle aged man. Both had faces that you could describe as nothing else other than kind, and smiled peacefully at me.

"Hello." The man greeted calmly. "My name is Nathan and this is my assistant, Alisa. We're followers of the Harvest Goddess and heard there was an undisturbed lake here told to have a connection to her. The church was deserted so we spoke to Taro and agreed to move in here."

"I'm Chelsea, the island's farmer." I replied, smiling at Alisa who smiled serenely back.

"Raising and caring for living things must be very rewarding." Alisa said and I nodded in agreement.

"It is." We paused and I shifted. "Well…I better be heading back."

"Of course." Nathan nodded, smiling still. "The church is open to you at any time."

"Thanks." I said then hurried off. Religious folk had always creeped me out a bit because they were always so damn _friendly_. I thought the Goddess might appreciate the devotion, though I wasn't sure how much interacting I'd personally be doing with them. Talking to people that kind had always been something I struggled with because you could never complain to them about anything. Optimism is nice and all, but there's a point when it's just bloody irritating.

~.oOo.~

I made it to Monday morning and then I caved. I'd been walking through East town with the intention to knock on Pierre's door to ask for cooking tips for the autumn Cooking Festival – yeah I was preparing early – when I saw Gannon and a group of workmen working on what he told me was going to be the island's hotel. I then thought that that would be something new for Vaughn to see when he came back and how he always seemed to be missing the new constructions and new villagers and before I knew it I was turning on my heel and jogging back home, picking up the phone and dialling the number I'd left next to it; stroking the messy numbers with one finger as I twirled the phone cord in another.

It wasn't until the fourth ring that I realised he'd likely be at work; 11AM on a Monday. To my surprise though, after the fifth ring the phone got picked up and a gruff,

"What?" echoed down the line.

"Do you usually try to sound as unaccommodating as possible when picking up the phone?" I asked a smile on my face.

"Chels?" He asked and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Howdy, stranger." I replied, my heart squeezing happily in my chest.

"Miss me too much, did ya?" He asked and I frowned.

"And you didn't miss me?" He chuckled.

"'Course I did. Almost phoned you three times yesterday before realising I didn't have your number."

"Oh." I blushed and grinned a bit stupidly to myself. "So how's life in the big city going?" He sighed.

"As normal as it can, I guess. They hired someone new whilst I was at the island so I can work fewer hours whilst I'm wastin' my time here. That's why I'm at home now." The phone distorted his voice slightly but it was still completely _Vaughn_ and I couldn't stop smiling. It was getting ridiculous.

"That doesn't mean you'll be spending less time on the island, does it?"

"Nawh. Just that I get to sit in my empty apartment for longer during the times I'm here instead."

"Is it really that bad?" I asked and he sighed again.

"I never had an issue with it before, I suppose. It wasn't all that great, but I got by. But now I know you, I got somewhere I'd rather be."

"Oh." I repeated. For someone who had a history of not using them all that frequently, Vaughn sure had a way with words.

"So tell me about what's happenin' out there." He said and I heard the soft thump of him presumably flopping into an armchair or onto a sofa.

"Well I saw Gannon building a hotel." I started. "That's actually why I thought to call you. You miss so much in your time away. And I met two new people who've moved here. They live out in the forest in the abandoned church."

"They're livin' in that creepy old thing?" He asked. "Bit weird." I laughed.

"They're followers of the Harvest Goddess. Really nice and friendly. Always smiling and greeting people in the street. I have absolutely zero ideas on how to communicate with them. I'm too used to you and Natalie." I teased.

"Julia was screeching about her the other day with Lanna." He said and my ears perked. Vaughn? _Gossiping?_

"So she was busy when you left mine?" I asked hopefully. Our relationship was _so_ new, I really didn't want it being interrogated so soon after it's started, even if Jules only ever has the best of intentions. I knew she had leapt on him at some point, but if she'd had Lanna over then she couldn't have gone too hard…He snorted.

"Of course she wasn't, that'd make life easy, wouldn't it? I got the inquisition as good as anythin', but I told her to fuck off." I'm sure he did. "I was workin' in my room later," hear: _hiding_ , "and heard her jabbering on with Lanna. Apparently Natalie's been bugging that purple guy."

"Pierre?" I asked and he grunted.

"Whatever. Anyway -" I frowned.

"No hold up. What's wrong with Pierre? I've bumped into him a few times and he's lovely. Have you ever even talked to him?"

"Well, no, but he's weird." Vaughn replied, as if that was any kind of explanation.

"And that's automatically a bad thing, is it?" I asked.

"No, just, I dunno, the guy wears pantaloons, Chels." I laughed despite myself.

"I didn't realise you were one to dislike someone on sight due to their clothes, _cowboy_." I could hear the scowl in his reply.

"So what, you sayin' you _like_ him and his fuckin' purple gay rights getup?"

"Are you saying there's something wrong with being gay?" He sighed angrily.

" _Jesus_ , stop twistin' what I'm saying! I don't care if he takes fifty dicks up him a night, I just don't like the guy, alright?" I frowned and thought back over any mention of Pierre around Vaughn before. As far as I knew the two had never met and I didn't know a single person on the island who didn't like him and would badmouth him to Vaughn. I'd seen Pierre walking around over the last few days, and back during the rainy season a couple of times, but Vaughn hadn't been on the island then. Before then it probably had to be… _oh_.

"Vaughn, is this about Julia saying she thought I'd be interested in Pierre?" I tried not to let my smile show in my voice, but I don't think I hid it very well. "Are you _jealous_?"

"So what if I am?" He challenged, though I could hear he was flustered.

"Oh you fool, you don't need to worry about that, especially not with _Pierre_." I grinned outright. "Honestly, I don't even know why Julia said that."

"That'd be because I told her I didn't do relationships earlier on that day." He replied and my joyful mood dropped.

"Oh." _What does that make us then?_ I thought, but didn't want too sound needy. I thought we'd sort of established a _thing_. In my head, we had automatically moved into a relationship place seeing as we'd been friends for months and then dancing around, flirting for a couple of weeks. After the night of the storm, I'd been pretty sure we were an item. I'd even told Julia as much when she'd been bugging me about it, bringing up all sorts of insecurities that I hadn't even realised I'd had.

" _But how do you_ know _?"_ She'd asked after a tirade of reasons why I should sit down and have A Talk with Vaughn about what we were and our future and where we were headed.

" _How do I_ know _? Christ Julia, we've kissed, he's slept in my_ bed _, we spend all our time together – how can I_ not _know? Do you really need a conversation to confirm every little thing? I'm Vaughn's, he's mine, we're both aware of that fact and aren't about to go running off into the sunset with anyone else. Every relationship is different and we don't need to sit there and go "by the way, are we girlfriend and boyfriend?" just so we have verbal authorisation of the fact. We just_ know _okay?"_ I'd finally snapped and she'd gone quiet, thinking it over before agreeing that even if she didn't agree with me, it wasn't her place to stick her nose.

"I just didn't want to be talking about that sort of shit with her. I was gettin' her to shut up." Vaughn was saying, sounding worried as he realised how I'd taken his previous statement. I didn't want to turn this phone call into a talk about everything Julia had said we needed to talk about, so I decided to just trust in his word. Besides, I knew Vaughn, and I knew he overthought _everything_. He wasn't the type to kiss a girl without being sure he was ready to deal with the repercussions.

"It's fine." I shook my head even though he couldn't see it. "So what's your new colleague like? Does the reduced hours mean you can come here for longer or more often?" He paused before answering.

"Not really." He replied slowly, obviously trying to let me down gently. "I've still got to be on-call whilst here during work hours. And I don't have a cell so that literally means I have to sit at home in case my phone rings." That explains why he was so abrasive when he first picked up then.

"And the colleague?" I prompted. They were the first human being Vaughn had mentioned to me in all the time I knew him other than the people who lived on the island and the abstract idea of a boss and 'hick' workmates. I'd fallen out of touch with a lot of my friends soon before crash landing on the island where I made new ones, but I'd always _had_ friends to turn to during my school days at least and I thought it must be really very lonely without anyone. I had to remind myself constantly that he was a different type of person to me and probably appreciated the space, but the idea was so alien to me I often forgot.

"She's…nice." He replied carefully. "Good with the animals. Likes cake too much."

"What's her name?" I asked, trying to get him to engage in the topic a bit more.

"Celia." He grunted. "Hard-working. So kind of like you. Only she's polite, so not that much."

"Oi." I smiled. "I'm incredibly polite." He snorted.

"Only to people you don't like. Which makes no sense. If ya don't like someone, why bother bein' nice to them?"

"Because it's rude to be nasty!" I laughed.

"You're just too foreign." He verbally waved me away. "You'd apologise if some stranger came up to you and hit you in the face for no reason. There must be more apologies than punches thrown in fights in England."

"I think you'll find there's a significant amount of knives involved actually. We know how to fight just as well as anyone else, thank you very much."

"Why stab someone when you can just shoot them and be done with it?" He asked, sounding puzzled.

"We actually have laws about guns over in the UK." I teased.

"Oh yeah, I forgot how we savages are over here in the US." He teased back. "Fuck." He cursed suddenly. "Someone's tryna get through, Chels. I gotta go in case it's work." He sighed and I joined him.

"Alright, duty calls. I'll see you in two days." I sighed again. "I still miss you."

"I miss you, too." I could hear him smiling.

"Listen to us saps. I'll let you go. Have a good one."

"Catch ya later." He said and then I was left listening to the dialling tone.

Bloody hell. I think I missed him _more_ now that I'd spoken to him.

~.oOo.~

August turned into September and the temperatures became a bit more like what I was used to. They were still as hot as a summer's day back home, but they were far more bearable, especially with the sea winds constantly blowing to cool me down. Vaughn and I, now boasting an entire month's worth of relationship, spent most of his time here together – we'd got in the habit of spending the entire day and night Wednesday in each other's company and then working for Thursday before meeting up in the evenings for dinner and a rushed goodbye on the beach. I guess I'd been expecting gossip to travel in such a small town – like the sort of stuff you see on the telly – but my city-girl expectations had been too high and no one much cared that it was pretty obvious Vaughn and I were sharing a bed every time he came here. Things had happened between us, but we'd not ticked every box on the checklist yet. We'd discovered pretty early on that we both agreed on the fact that there was more to sex than just 'insert dick here' and were happy taking our time to explore the other sides to intimacy. According to Julia's unwelcomely detailed stories of her and Elliot, they were putting off any form of sex until marriage; something they'd _already_ talked about. I found it bizarre that they could be thinking of marriage already when they'd only been dating for a few weeks longer than Vaughn and I had, but to each their own. As I've stated before, I'm not here to judge.

In any case, the official first day of Autumn – 'Fall' as _everyone else on the island_ called it apart from Gannon, Eliza and I – was approaching in a week's time and I had decided to dedicate my Friday without Vaughn to finding Pierre and actually getting those cooking tips out of him. It was an overcast day, but there was no rain scheduled, so Aras, Arlette, Gwen and Mara – a new sheep of mine whom I named thusly because of how grumpy she had been in the shop and ever since – were grazing outside. I was walking my usual route to East town and thinking how it was only five days until I'd be seeing Vaughn at the end of the journey. Time spent apart from him had become simultaneously harder and easier as the weeks went by. Easier because we were talking on the phone more – almost every day during his absence – and that was actually drawing him out of his shell even more seeing as he couldn't rely on body language to get his message across when on the phone, meaning other people on the island were _finally_ starting to warm to him a bit more. Better three months late than never, I suppose. Harder because we were getting so much closer and that made it just that twinciest bit more difficult to spend time apart with every laugh I drew out of him down a telephone line and every bruising I-can't-control-how-crazy-I-am-over-you kiss I received from him in person. I didn't see my patience with the situation running out any time soon – it was his livelihood, afterall, and I wasn't going to ask him to give that up – but I wondered when his constant absence would really start straining our relationship. It was fine at our current level; making us grow fonder of each other when apart, but I worried about the other half of the phrases about distance coming true one day; out of sight, out of mind.

Worrying over things like this never helped me get anywhere or reach any conclusion. I wasn't going to stop seeing Vaughn due to a _possibility_ that one of us might become disenchanted with the other, but I couldn't help myself thinking about it nonetheless. I guess I just wanted every base to be covered.

Reaching Pierre's house, I walked in calling out "Knock knock!" as I poked my head around the door. "Pierre?" I shouted, wandering through the living room. "I was wondering if you could give me some tips before the cooking festival!"

"Chelsea!" I heard from around the corner and I walked over towards the noise. I knew Pierre was small and all, but his voice was standardly male and that had definitely been a girl's voice.

"Nat?" I asked as I entered the kitchen to see Natalie sitting on the table and Pierre leaning against the counter opposite her looking exhausted. "What are you doing here?" I asked and she blushed.

"Oh, just…visiting. Doing the friendly rounds and all that." She laughed and I frowned. The last thing Natalie was, was friendly and the _last_ thing she did was do social calls to keep up relations.

"Right." I agreed, not believing one word of it. "Anyway, hi Pierre, I can come back later if you two are busy." I raised an eyebrow at him and he looked panicked, shaking his head and opening his mouth to speak. Before he could get a word out though, Natalie cut across him and a flash of annoyance ran over his face. I guess that had been happening a lot during this stop in her 'friendly rounds'.

"No no, don't mind me, I'll just go. Gramps is getting cranky about the harvest with the end of the season coming so I should probably go back and help him out." she said, hopping off the table. "Don't be a stranger, dweeb." She said as she passed Pierre, reaching out and ruffling his pristine hair. And then she was gone and I was turning to the chef for an explanation.

"Okay, so, _what_?" I asked and he cringed.

"Natalie has very firm verbal communication." He phrased carefully and I winced as my imagination ran free with how badly he'd been on the receiving end of her tyrannical verbal slaying. "I fear she's become accustomed to it with Elliot," he continued, "and is projecting it onto me now that her brother is otherwise entertained." I laughed quickly and shook my head.

"No such luck, I'm afraid." I said and the slightly hopeful look on his face fell. "Nat's the schoolyard bully type. Y'know, pulling on the pigtails of the girl she likes?" He sighed and picked up a spatula, twirling it anxiously in his hand.

"I had feared that was the case." He replied. "I don't know how to indicate that I don't return her affections." He frowned and looked a little cross. "Especially when she rarely deigns to allow me to speak."

"You could always start crying." I shrugged. Pierre looked confused so I explained. "Natalie has a thing for bossing people around, but if they actually let her she gets bored pretty easily. She likes to have someone challenge her, so if you start standing up for yourself she'll probably lay it on thicker. I vote you burst into tears on her one day and she'll run in the opposite direction like a bullet out a gun. She's not in so deep that she'd stick around for long enough to find out you're acting." He nodded and leaned harder against the counter, looking completely defeated. I actually felt sorry for the guy – he obviously felt bad about hurting Nat's feelings, but he couldn't help not liking the girl. She had very unique flirting techniques.

We heard the front door slam open and shut and a voice call out, "Yo, P, babe! I got some goods for you!" and then Denny came charging in, jar of seaweed in one hand and a bunch of fish tied up by their tails in another. He frowned when he entered the kitchen and saw Pierre's face. Dropping his load on the table, he moved right up to Pierre and took him by the shoulders. I don't think he'd even noticed me and I wasn't sure if it'd make a difference if he had – the moment the two were in the same room it was like they were the _only_ people in the room.

"Hey, what's up?" Denny asked in a concerned voice that I had rarely heard him use. Pierre sighed and put on a smile.

"Natalie just paid me a visit." Denny now sighed and slumped; leaning his head against Pierre's forehead.

"Again? When will she get the message that you're _not interested_?" One of Denny's hands came up to stroke the chef's face and it suddenly all clicked. _Oh_. I thought. I should have seen it coming really – I'd even caught Denny scraping seaweed off the rock a month ago, and since that conversation he'd started using soap…which he hadn't seen the point in before. _Before Pierre moved here_. Pierre coughed and hurriedly replied,

"Well Chelsea here was just giving me some tips on how to handle her." I saw Denny freeze and turn around slowly to face me.

"Oh. Um. Hi Chelsea. I didn't realise you were here." He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck.

"That much was obvious." I drawled. Christ, Vaughn was rubbing off on me.

"Right, of course, haha…" He was going pink under his dark skin and his eyes were darting every which way for something to say. "Anyway, about, um, _that_ , I can totally explain it, I was just, er…" I took pity on the guy and raised a hand to stop his rambling.

"Dude." I said, "You _never_ have to explain a relationship of yours to me. It's none of my business, yeah?" He looked at me hopefully and I grinned at him. "Should have realised it when you started using soap, really." I said and this time his blush was most definitely visible.

" _Chelsea."_ He hissed as Pierre looked confused – seriously? How had he not noticed the difference before and after? Had he _legitimately_ not cared that Denny always stank of fish? – and I laughed and moved to exit the kitchen.

"I'll leave you guys to yourselves then." I called out, "Pierre, I'll come by another time when you're less popular for help." I couldn't help the shit eating grin on my face as I heard Pierre turn to Denny as I walked out the front door and ask,

"What's all this about soap?"

~.oOo.~

"D'you think you'll be able to get Tuesday off?" I asked down the phone as I absently combed my wet hair. Vaughn had taken to running his hands through it often, so I found myself taking care of it a lot more than I used to; conditioning it and combing it like I never had before. "Maybe Celia could cover you if you take her Monday. I'm sure she'd appreciate being the one to get Monday off for once."

"Shouldn't be a problem." Vaughn's deep voice replied. "I'll check with Mike, but if he has an issue with it I'm sure Celia should be able to twist his arm a bit." I hummed, tugging on a particularly vicious knot. Mike was Vaughn's boss; I'd managed to worm the name out of him last week. It seemed me talking about the people he worked with actually encouraged Vaughn to interact with them more so he'd have something new to tell me next time I asked.

"I don't know what Julia and Elliot's plans are for the evening. They might spend it with his family seeing as Nat's not got anyone to go with and Elliot still thinks she appreciates him being there for her even with Julia attached to his arm. In any case, Mirabelle will probably be alone. Do you want to have dinner with her beforehand? Or should we just come back to mine?" He snorted with laughter.

"Hmmm, time alone with you in a house empty apart from us and a bed, or an evening in with my nosy aunt and her invasive questions?" He drawled.

"Heathen." I sniffed. "It would do you to think with your other head once in a while." We both snorted knowing how rarely he let his lower head do any thinking ever. "You'll be coming back to mine after the fireworks show anyway. Julia will keep Mirabelle company. And we'll go there to drop your stuff when you arrive as well." Not that he really needed stuff anymore. After four weeks of Wednesday nights spent at mine, I'd accumulated a small collection of his t-shirts and satin boxers; both of which I am unashamed to say I wore constantly. What was the point in a boyfriend if you didn't get to steal their clothes?

"I suppose I can put up with a dinner with her then." Vaughn sighed. "But only because I know you'd get all huffy and disapproving if I didn't." I laughed, confident in the fact that he knew I knew I didn't ever want to dictate his decisions for him.

"I don't get huffy." I huffed and he laughed again. That was something else I'd noticed over the three months I'd known him. It seemed the longer he spent on the island; free from the cloying city air; depressing flat and grey atmosphere, the more open he was becoming. I don't think he'd ever be what one could call bubbly, but he laughed with me about as much as anyone else ever did and talked basically freely when it was us two alone. He was getting better with Mirabelle and Julia but was still best with me; something I felt guilty about actually, seeing as he was better with me than he was with his own surrogate family…but then I guess everyone's families are different. I knew plenty of people who were closer to their friends than they were to those related to them. I'd even witnessed a somewhat bizarre conversation between him and Lanna about Denny. It had almost looked like they were competing to see who was better friends with the fisherman; both chanting off general knowledge facts about him until I had stepped in and asked Vaughn what my favourite colour was and he'd stammered and blushed, coming up answerless, and that had been the end of that.

"My point exactly." He replied and I stuck my tongue out at the phone, indulging in some face pulling seeing as no one was around to witness it.

"So how did Hugh's sports competition go?" I asked, pulling the phone over to the armchair I had bought and moved purely so I'd have somewhere to sit whilst on the phone to Vaughn. Hugh was Celia's baby brother that she had mentioned once to Vaughn and he had obediently relayed the information to me. I'd asked him what the brother's name was to which Vaughn had replied 'why should I care?'. I'd set him the task of finding out and boy had _that_ been a fun conversation to imagine happening. Vaughn had told me many times that he could just get Celia's number and I could find out all this 'useless small talk' from her directly, but it seems both her and I were in agreement that it was good for him to talk to her seeing as I'd refused to receive it and she'd refused to give it to him.

"Celia was talking about making him a cake." He replied and I heard him clattering about in his kitchen, presumably making himself something to eat for dinner – he was a couple hours ahead back in the city. "A congratulatory one. I wasn't really listenin', but I think he did well. Probably came first or second or summin'."

"The difference between first and second is pretty big to an eight year old." I reprimanded him. "He works so hard with their dad, I hope it all paid off for him." Vaughn grunted and I could tell I'd exhausted his tolerance on the subject.

"I'll leave you to your dinner then." I said, aiming and throwing my comb onto my bed.

"You know I don't mind talkin' to you whilst I eat." He said, opening and shutting some cupboards in the background. I heard the ticking of his hob as he pressed down on the gas knob.

"Porridge?" I asked him, already knowing the answer. He hummed in agreement. "The oat seeds Taro planted back in April have grown a tonne. They should be harvestable in a few weeks. I'll treat you to a bowl of home-grown oat porridge with some of Gwen's milk. I swear the quality of it is better than it was last week."

"That sounds like heaven, Chels." He sighed. "I'm so sick of this microwave shit. Even cooking it on the hob doesn't make it much better. Mirabelle makes a mean porridge, but she still has to use the imported oats Chen gets in, and they all taste a lil' bit of cardboard."

"Life is so hard, isn't it?" I mock sympathised and I could practically _hear_ his eye roll. I heard a clatter of something metallic and he swore. "Right, you obviously can't cook one handed, so I'll head off now. I need to head to the mines now anyway before it gets dark. Regis has been on my case about not sending enough business his way. I can't help it if my crops are selling well enough that I don't even need to fish for income anymore."

"Be careful." He cautioned, as he did every time I mentioned doing something mildly dangerous. It seems he still hadn't forgotten about my fainting-into-my-wheelbarrow episode in July.

"I always am." I replied cheerily.

"I probably won't be able to talk the next two days if I'm going to be working overtime to get Tuesday off." He warned me. I sighed, knowing I was going to miss hearing his voice, but equally knowing it was worth it if it meant I got an entire extra day with him. "If you don't hear from me, assume I'll be there Tuesday. I'll let you know if I can't make it."

"Alright." I agreed. "I can't wait to see you, whenever that may be."

"I can't wait to see you, too, darlin'." The smile showed in his voice.

"Bye-bye." I said and he returned it before hanging up. I slumped back in my chair. A Sunday and a Monday to get through with no Vaughn. I hadn't lost my patience with the situation yet, no, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

~.oOo.~

"Mmmm, I've missed these lips." Vaughn said against my mouth as I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down for a deep hello kiss. We didn't like kissing all that much in public – hand holding and cuddling however were an entirely different matter – so our greetings and farewells were never too long, but I think we made up for time length in the mass of tongue we managed to get into each other's mouths in the period we did kiss.

"And I've missed all of you." I returned, pressing my forehead into his collarbone as he encased me in the strong arms I loved so much. He snorted.

"Way to make me sound like the shallow one." He grouched, dropping a kiss to the top of my head through my bandana. "How's Mara doin'?"

"Come and see for yourself." I said, pulling away and lacing our fingers together. "I swear she refuses to eat every morning just for the fun of seeing me get stressed. She's not all that smart because it means me taking my stethoscope to her every morning to check she's not coming down with something, which means I spend even more time hovering around her."

"She came out the womb with a bad attitude." Vaughn smiled. "Mike wouldn't let me bring over the newest little one we had last month. None of us are meant to get attached to the animals, but I'm pretty sure Mike's gonna be keepin' her for himself."

"Oh, Welsh is he?" I asked, grinning to myself. Vaughn just frowned in confusion and I sighed. If I'd been talking to Gannon he'd have got it. "Just a good old sheep-shagging joke. Don't worry." I waved it off. "Did you find out what place Hugh came in?" I asked.

"First." He grunted. "Celia says she's going to bring him into work at some point and let him ride some of the ponies as a well done treat."

"Oh that sounds so sweet." I sighed. "I wish I could be there."

"Why can't you be?" Vaughn pulled me to a stop at the entrance to my farm and looked at me excitedly. "I can let you know when it's happening and you can make a day and night of it. Sort out your crops and animals early before leaving, stay the night, then catch the boat back and do your chores a few hours late the next day." I looked at his face – all lit up like a kid on Halloween – and processed his words before smiling and nodding.

"It's feasible. Just remember to ask Celia." Vaughn bent down, pressed a solid kiss on my lips and pulled back grinning.

"The city might actually be worth being in that day." He said, picking my hand back up and continuing us on our way as my heart melted in my chest in his wake.

~.oOo.~

Dinner with Mirabelle was half-fun and half-awkward. She kept smiling at us like she was imagining our kids which made both of us uncomfortable. The food was good though and it was nice to feel like part of a family meal – not something I'd had in _years_ – and I really did like Mirabelle; she was sort of a mother figure to me on the island. It'd just be great if I wasn't made so aware of every time I touched Vaughn or teased him or even _looked_ at him in a specific manner. It was over pretty quickly though and then we were making our way to the meadow to watch the fireworks show that Gannon and Chen had collaborated on. I laid out a blanket and Vaughn and I lay down on it, kicking off our shoes and staring at the clear sky as the buzz of the crowd arrived around us. I could see Natalie and Lanna sitting together, as well as Elliot and Julia. Sabrina was sending wistful glances our way as she sat on a cushion next to a regal Regis. She'd stopped bothering Vaughn a while back so I couldn't tell if that look was one of 'I wish I were lying with him' or just 'I wish I had someone to lie with like that'. In any case, she'd been avoiding the rest of the young people on the island like the plague and it showed – she was almost as pale as Vaughn was. I occasionally bumped into her but I think it was going on three weeks since I last saw her and there had been rumours throughout the village that she and her father were going to be moving back to the city soon. To be honest, island life didn't really seem to suit the pair of them. Regis was rich here, but he wasn't all that powerful and he relied on my custom and the few miners who chose to sell their bounty rather than keep it and Sabrina just hadn't connected to anyone. They spent all their time cooped up in that big old mansion and I wondered sometimes if things would have been different if I'd not been with Vaughn and he'd been with Sabrina. It was just part of my what-if game I loved to torture myself with, but I genuinely thought it might have made a difference.

The first whistle-bang of a firework being let off pulled me out my trance with a body-jolting jump. Vaughn chuckled.

"You lost inside that crazy ol' brain of yours again?" He asked affectionately and I smiled. He was the only person I would allow to call me crazy after everything that had happened in my life. I tickled his sides lightly for a few and he squirmed around like a worm until I stopped, laughing. "Fuck, you're going to pay for that." He growled at me and then lunged for one of my feet – one of the only two ticklish areas on my body and he knew it. I shrieked over the next firework and we rolled around a bit. I managed to kick him off and call for a time out.

"We should watch the show!" I hissed out between deep breaths and we settled back onto the blankets. Regis was sneering at us down his hooked nose and Elliot was smiling warmly in our direction.

"I don't do well with fireworks." Vaughn muttered to me quietly and I tilted my head on his chest up to look at his face. His eyes were narrowed at the sky and he looked like he was on the verge of pain. I could have smacked myself right there and then.

"Oh my God Vaughn, you should have reminded me, I completely forgot!" I whispered back, reaching up and tugging his hat over his eyes.

"I don't want to be treated like I'm crippled." He growled. "I should be able to go to a damn fireworks show with my girlfriend without having to remember to bring sunglasses." I stroked my fingertips over his eyelids; forcing them to flutter closed underneath them.

"You can't push your limits." I soothed him. "It sucks yeah, but it's the way things are and it's okay. You're still here and you've seen a few of them. It's the night that matters, not the event." He sighed sadly and I pressed a kiss against his jaw. "Let's just sit back and relax a bit." I said and tugged his arm around me as I rested on the flat plain of his chest.

"You're too good for me." I barely heard the words they were whispered so quietly, but I did so I started tracing large spiralling doodles on his chest.

"There's no such thing as being not good enough for someone." I replied. "There's only not having the traits the other person is looking for. And that's certainly not something you need to fret about. You're everything I could want in another half. Now shush, shut that brain of yours down and enjoy the evening."

He caught my hand in one of his and laced our fingers together, leaving them resting on his stomach and I returned my gaze to the sky as he lay there with his eyes shut, breathing deeply.

 **Chapter End.**

 **A/N:** **Fluff much?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6.**

October dawned with small sprouts of 'eggplant' (aubergine, but no one seemed to know what I meant when I called them that), spinach and carrots shooting out of the tilled soil. It was the first week of the month now; two weeks since the fireworks festival and Vaughn mentioning the possibility of a trip to the city to meet Celia and Hugh. I'd spoken to him on the phone and he'd told me I could come up on the last Friday of the month three weeks from today.

Regis and Sabrina had moved out at the beginning of the month. They'd had the decency to stop by the farm and give a personal farewell to me seeing as I'd been the only one really shipping anything from the mines for a while; the weather had just been too volatile for mining enthusiasts to risk going up the mountain and business had slumped. Throughout the entire thing, Sabrina didn't even speak. She just stood there with a painfully polite smile on her face and this dead look in her eyes. I may not know her very well, but I hoped that moving back to the mainland would help her. For reasons I had no right to know, the island had been really detrimental for her, and though Regis was blustering on about profits and losses, it was pretty obvious that he could see how badly Sabrina was faring and was trying to do what was best by her. I mean, just because he lived here didn't mean he didn't still benefit from all the other mining companies he owned, he personally didn't _have_ to move if he didn't want to.

Regis left the mansion behind, telling Taro and Gannon to do what they wanted with it seeing as he wasn't going to be using it anymore. They decided to split the land and turn part of it into an olden style cinema building – one screen and movies only showing when there was a demand for one. I don't know how the entire business worked, but whenever a new one came out on the mainland that people here were interested in, they just told Taro and he used his many connections to get it visible to us on the island. I liked it better than the big Odeons we had back home; this seemed a lot less corporate and more purely for entertainment. In any case, we had more families and youngsters visit now that they could stay and have the luxury of seeing the latest flick as well as enjoying the island lifestyle. A tiny little stone cottage was built on the rest of the land. It was open plan and had the bed and kitchen in the same room, but it was liveable and if Regis ever chose to return it's not like he didn't have the money to get it expanded pretty sharpish. The Inn reached capacity and was already using up most of the land around it. Gannon expanded the hotel stating that if he tried to add one more room to the Inn the entire thing would become too unstable for him to let people stay in it in good conscience.

I was walking back home in the evening from vising the Harvest Goddess now and as I reached my farmland I saw a guy standing at my window peering in.

"Hello?" He was calling, tapping lightly.

"Y'know, normally people knock on doors." I said, coming up behind him. He jumped and turned around with a sheepish grin on his face. _Woah_. I thought as I looked up at him. _Talk about handsome Miami beach hunk._ He had scruffy blond hair that stuck out of his blue baseball cap, freckles across his nose and cheeks and pale green eyes. His skin was tanned and flushed pink under his high cheekbones.

"Yeah, I started there. Sorry. I'm Mark." He greeted, holding out his hand. I shook it, grateful for the first normal introduction I'd encountered for a while.

"I'm Chelsea, the farmer here." I replied with my staple line. His face lit up.

"Perfect, then you're just who I'm looking for!" He laughed. "Have ta say though, I wasn't expecting the famous farmer who turned this island around to be a woman!" The polite smile on my face tightened as it became 100% fake.

"Excuse me?" I asked, voice strained.

"Oh, no, it's just this is good news for me is all. I want to learn more about farming you see and would really appreciate it if you could show me the ropes a bit sometime. I'm sure you could use the help dealing with this massive plot all by yourself more than a male rancher would." He was grinning, happy as anything as if the shit coming out his mouth wasn't incredibly offensive.

"Sure." I agreed shortly. "Well, as you can see though, I've done everything for the day. So maybe another time." He looked around and spied my animals grazing in their enclosures. I'd bought another cow last week; Lola; who spent all her time moping around with Mara. Misery loves company, I guess. They were the most sincerely miserable creatures I'd ever seen without having cause to be. I was even planning on asking Gannon to get an incubator in for me this month so I could hatch my own chick – once I'd talked about chick-raising with Vaughn – in the hopes that this animal would finally come out happy. Crops were easier but I connected more with the animals so I felt confident about expanding on my repertoire. Plus, I'd need more animals for the winter to keep me going.

"You sure there's not a fence that needs fixing or something? Some wood that needs chopping?" He asked, sending me a winning smile which I'm sure made him look charming, but all I could see was a pig in human's clothing.

"Nope." I popped the 'p' and reached for my door handle.

"Here, let me." He said, reaching over and pushing open my door for me. Something inside me broke.

"I'm perfectly capable of opening my own bloody door, thanks." I snapped at him, catching a crestfallen look on his face before I slammed it shut in his face.

I watched him walk down the path like a kicked puppy and willed myself not to feel guilty. I spun around and picked up my phone, dialling a number I'd learnt by heart now. He picked up on the third ring and before he could even speak I was already ranting.

"The most disgusting sexist pig has just moved in and I _cannot_ be _fucked_ to deal with this sort of shit Vaughn. I put up with _far_ too much of it before I moved here and I thought I'd finally got away from that sort of mentality but then _Mark_ had to move in and _fuck it all up_." I was on the verge of tears and feeling ridiculous. The guys in my old friendship group back home had been alright mostly, apart from a select few who were bearable when they were on their own, but when you put them together they'd spend the entire time making sexist jokes and talking about how unequal pay made sense if women were going to be running around impregnating themselves. As a girl in the group, if you tried to tell them off or say they were being offensive they'd all 'oooo' at each other and take the piss of the guy being scolded 'mate, watch it, the woman's nagging knows no bounds.' It was about half the reason I lost touch with the group. The other girls just didn't care enough and would look at me weirdly or tell me to lighten up or to stop being so serious or boring or whatever. "I can't do it again, Vaughn, I just can't and I refuse to be scared to leave my own house because some twat is stalking around tricking women into thinking he's God's gift just because he's good looking, but he's going to be following me because apparently he wants to learn how to farm and thinks I can't handle it myself _as a woman_ and I can't _do_ this oh my God." and then I promptly collapsed into my armchair and started sobbing.

"Chels." Vaughn said softly, worry thick in his tone.

"Oh God I wish you were here." I sobbed, wanting someone to hug so badly. Wanting him to sit here and hold me and insult Mark in the way only my abrasive cowboy could. I wanted him to put the fear of God into Mark because _as a woman_ I knew Mark wouldn't take any of my threats seriously; would only back off once he knew I was _property_ of another man who would get pissed if he kept bugging me because guys respect it when a bitch belongs to another guy. "It just makes me so angry and I get so frustrated because I can't just go into his brain and delete the part of him that makes him think he's superior to me because he's got a dick." I heaved out.

"Chels, darlin', if any human on this Earth thinks they're superior to you then they're pretty fuckin' dumb." Vaughn chided me. "You're a force to be reckoned with. If this Mark bothers you again then you tell him where to stick it and you _keep_ tellin' him where to stick it. If he keeps turnin' round and not listenin' then I'll step in, but you gotta try for yourself. You know you'll kick yourself later if you don't." I took deep breaths in and out as I focused on his accent drawling down the line.

"Yeah." I agreed. "Yeah you're right. I can't just paint him with the same brush as the dicks I used to hang out with just because he acts a little bit the same."

"And if he's still bein' a shit after five days, I'll hold him down whilst you rail on him." I laughed wetly and some more tears fell out my eyes.

"I miss you so much when you're not here." I said. I'd only seen him yesterday, but not having him here when I was upset was really hard. I'd become too dependent on him after that night in the storm.

"I miss you, too." He replied. "Wednesday can't come soon enough." I sniffed in agreement then checked my watch,

"Oh, Christ, it must be nearly midnight for you!" I cried. "I woke you up, didn't I? I'm _so_ sorry."

"Don't apologise." He said. "I never want you to think you can't call me if you need to talk about something."

"Thank you." I replied quietly. "I hope you know the same goes for you." It felt like an empty offer because I knew he'd likely never take me up on it. Vaughn seemed the kind to bottle things and withdraw rather than explode in a ball of swearing and tears like I do.

"'Course, Chels." He yawned. "You gonna be alright?"

"Yeah, yeah I am. Thank you, cowboy. I'll let you get back to sleep. Speak to you soon."

He yawned out a farewell and I hung up, deciding to head to bed myself. I didn't have much of an appetite and it was pretty late for me considering my early rises.

~.oOo.~

The next day I was planning on heading down to the beach to hang out with Denny some when I came across the slumped form of Mark sat against the boulder.

I turned on my heel to leave but once I'd seen him I couldn't un-see him. My thoughts went back to Sabrina and how lonely she'd become during her time here. I didn't want to watch that happen to someone else. Cursing myself because I knew if he said anything else I'd lay into him like a wolf into a bison, I walked over to him, sitting down next to him in the sand.

"What's wrong?" I asked, hating myself a little bit. He looked at me, surprised to see me, then turned back to stare at the sea.

"I came here to prove a point to my family that I could make a success of my life without having to go to university. That I could be a rancher if I wanted to and I'd heard all these stories about this really awesome farmer here and then I arrived and met you and fucked up." He sighed. "Then when I left the farm I met Natalie and she was carrying some pretty heavy stuff so I offered to help and out of nowhere she just slapped me, swore at me and charged into her house." I eyed him suspiciously. Nat had a temper but I'd never seen her _hit_ someone before.

"What exactly did you say to her?" I asked.

"'Hi darling, that looks mighty heavy why don't you let me help you?'" He quoted and I winced. "Then she said she didn't need the help and I said, 'No, you do, we wouldn't want you to strain yourself, women should leave the heavy work for the men.' and she put the box down slapped me and left."

I swear I felt a vein throbbing in my forehead. How did the kid _not get it_?

"Mark. The reason why I don't like you," he flinched at my honesty, "and now Natalie doesn't is because you're a _sexist little shit_!" I stood up, whirling my hands around as I got into the rant. "How can you _not_ notice that everything you've said is so incredibly offensive to women? Insinuating that we're incapable of doing our own jobs because they involve physical labour? What do you _expect_ us to do? Sit in the kitchen and look pretty? Coming on to her then insulting her capabilities; what were you expecting from her? To strip naked and ask you to take her now? If you don't want to alienate every girl on this island you've gotta wise up and see us as your equals and shove all that bigoted nonsense out the window." I fell silent and he stayed quiet. At least he was taking it in, I guess.

"My mother is a stay at home mom." He said carefully. "And my dad is a bit of a business tycoon. He's always taught me to help women in anything I can to make it easier on them. Told me to hold open doors and pull out chairs because it's polite. Not to let them risk themselves by doing heavy manual labour. Father told me it was chivalrous…?" He ended it on a question, looking up at me with big green eyes and I sighed. It was good that he wasn't doing it on purpose but that made it so much harder to scold him because he legitimately didn't mean anything by it. It also meant it was second nature and _that_ was going to get annoying pretty damn quickly.

"Well your dad's wrong." I stated bluntly. "There are plenty of women out there in the working world who are just as capable as men at doing the jobs they do. It's not the 1920s anymore, women know how to do to a hard day's work and it's really demoralising having guys like you turn around and suggest otherwise. Imagine all your successes that you achieve from putting a good graft in being seen as successes because _that's pretty impressive, y'know, for a woman_ and not because you've worked fucking hard and that work deserves recognition _._ Imagine feeling like you had to have permission to wear certain things or do certain things to your own body. Imagine what it'd be like that every time you tried to do something with your body, someone turned around and told or implied to you that you shouldn't or _couldn't_? Here," I said, standing up and offering him my hand.

"Let me help you stand." He frowned at me and haltingly shook his head, pushing up from the floor to stand next to me. "It's a bit of a ridiculous offer, right?" I asked him. "Because your legs are working fine. You don't need someone to help you do something as basic as standing – you probably haven't since you were 9 months old. For me to suggest otherwise would be a wound to your pride because you know you're not cripplingly weak, nor are you a 9 month old baby – so why should I treat you like one?"

"Oh." He said quietly, looking at me with a painfully earnest expression on his face.

"It's the same thing when it comes to opening doors and pulling out chairs. I mean, _some_ girls like that, and I was raised that holding a door open for someone when you're walking through or if they have their arms full was polite. But there's a difference between holding it because you're already on your way through or because you can see the other person can't do it themselves versus automatically reaching for it because the other person is a woman and somewhere in you you're assuming that she can't do it herself. That's where it goes from being polite to being discriminatory.

"And Natalie won't have appreciated you calling her a pet name when you barely know the girl. Would you do that with a guy you barely know? Start calling him some term of endearment? Probably not, you'd probably go for his name, or "hey man" or even nothing at all. Why's it gotta be different with women? Why's it suddenly "hey darling" or "hey love"? Those are something that you should only call someone who _is_ dear to you, someone who you _do_ love and Natalie nor I would appreciate being called that by someone who we don't have that kind of relationship with. Pet names are something you have to earn from someone in a relationship or a friendship, not something you can assume from the start. It's just creepy having someone say that to you when you don't have that connection!

"However you'd treat a guy is how you should treat a girl because apart from a few basic biological and hormonal differences, on a social level we're all the same! The inequalities exist in our society, but that's something we can fix by not contributing to it and actively promoting otherwise. I can run a farm despite not having a dick between my legs, Natalie can carry a box despite not having a dick between her legs, _women can utilise their bodies to a functional level despite not having a dick between our legs."_

I was breathing heavily at the end of it all and Mark's eyes were saucers as he stared at me.

"Um." Was all he said and I collapsed backwards on the sand.

"All that crap that you thought you knew about how to "treat a woman"? You need to erase it, okay? Or expect more slaps from Natalie." He nodded.

"I'm…sorry?" He ventured, not sounding very sure of himself. "For implying you couldn't, um, do your own farm work when it should be clear that you've managed very well until this point." I nodded. "And, I'd appreciate it if you could help me by allowing me to do some work on your farm." I smiled. He seemed alright, I guess. Naïve, but well-intentioned.

"Sure, Mark." I said, standing up again and brushing the sand off me. "I'm sorry if I laid into you pretty hard. It wasn't all personal. I had some pretty horrendous friends back in London and I never really said anything to them about it; just up and left on a holiday before crashing here. I guess I was telling you things I wish I had told them." I scowled. "It probably wouldn't have made a difference if Natalie hadn't slapped you. You'd most likely have just thought I had anger issues or liked being dramatic." He winced and I knew I'd hit the nail on the head. He stood up again.

"I promise you I'll try to catch those thoughts and words from now on." He said. "I didn't mean to remind you of unpleasant people in your life and I can see that what I deemed as normal behaviour before isn't really acceptable in the wide world." I sighed, exhausted and feeling weirdly empty all of a sudden. I hated having a go at other people and now I was worrying that I'd taken it too far.

"As for the rest of it…just, do what you're happy doing. If you know you're happy farming then farm. Don't suffer through doing something that makes you miserable just to please your parents. I'll see you around." And I turned on my heel and left to find Natalie. I needed to speak to someone who could reassure me I wasn't some kind of monster for standing up for what I believe in.

~.oOo.~

I don't know if he was a masochist or some kind of ever-loving puppy, but after my blow up at Mark, he'd taken to following me _everywhere,_ flirting with me and smiling and trying his best to be as desirable as possible.

"I don't know what to do, Jules." I wailed at her as I lay on her bed, Tuesday afternoon. "He's not even being a dick anymore – if anything he's bending over backwards to _not_ insult me or womankind. He's taken it so far in the opposite direction that now I'm getting annoyed at him for not being insulting which is ridiculous because I don't want him to insult me! It's like he's playing some twisted mind game only I know he doesn't have a sly bone in his body."

"Tell him you're not interested." She shrugged, writing something down on the paperwork she was hunched over.

"God but doesn't that sound so self-important? 'Hey I know you've not actually said you like me or asked me out, but just in case you're thinking of it, don't because I don't like you like that and I'm taken?'" Julia laughed.

"Well when you put it like _that_ it does."

"There's no way to put it where it doesn't." I whined. "It doesn't exist."

"Then wait on Vaughn to get back and make sure Mark sees you guys making out or something."

"Bit hypocritical of me, isn't it?" I asked, sighing, knowing I probably wasn't going to have another option. Unless Mark outright asked me out, I couldn't rightfully tell him to bugger off. If I were single I guess I'd just have to wait around until the cat finally let go of his tongue, but seeing as I have Vaughn, I suppose I'd be utilising him. "But yeah, I guess I'll have to do that. I just don't know how much more of his awkward gender-neutral pick-up lines I can take."

"You could always try to set him up with Nat." Julia suggested and I laughed.

"Oh my God can you imagine how well _that_ would go down? The guy would have a black eye before he could blink. You know she can't take guys who bend to her will easily. And Mark's pretty easy to chastise."

"Hmm, you've got a point. He probably needs someone a bit less…boisterous than Natalie."

"Well he can find them by himself." I said, standing up. "Thanks for the rant, Jules, but I better head. I've been coming home the past few days to see him cooing at Mara and Lola. The bitches actually like him as well. I want to put them back in the barn before he gets there this time."

Julia laughed and waved me off, not even looking up from her papers. "Yeah you best hurry, there's a surprise waiting for you at your house." I raised an eyebrow questioningly but left nonetheless.

"Little miss!" I heard as I stepped out of the building. I turned to see Gannon waving at me cheerily; Charlie and Eliza gabbling at each other in the grass outside his house. I moved over to Gannon, making sure to position myself so I could see if Mark walked towards my farm.

"Hi, Gannon." I greeted. "What's up?"

"Nothin' much." He smiled. "Jus' wanted ter say tha' I got yer incubator set up in yer coop." I grinned back at him.

"Perfect! Thank you so much." I'd take Aras off to Mirabelle's the next day to get her fertilised. That must have been the surprise Julia was talking about. I trotted off to my farm and herded the animals back inside without a hitch, admiring my new incubator and wanting to get my fingers on all the buttons. I then got as far as my front door before I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Mark standing there shuffling his feet. Brill.

"Hey…you." He greeted awkwardly as if he couldn't think up of a proper non-creepy term to call me. Like _my name_ , for example. "You're looking beautiful…ly independent today." He smiled winningly and I groaned internally. I wish – _with all my soul_ – that he was taking the piss, but one look at his hopeful expression showed me he was being serious. _Oh bloody fuck_.

"Hi Mark." I sighed.

"Seriously?" I heard a drawl from my right and I jumped a mile, letting out a yelp. Vaughn was leaning out my window, calm as anything, chin resting in one hand.

" _Vaughn_!" I sighed in relief. "Christ, you scared me half to death." I grinned at him. "What are you _doing_ here?" He sent me a smile then ducked back into the house, moving round and coming out the door this time.

"Spoke to Mike and we discussed the fact that there's no point in my finishing work on a Tuesday afternoon and then stayin' in the city overnight before comin' here Wednesday mornings. I thought I'd surprise you." Without even thinking about it, I put my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a hello kiss. He slid his hands over me; one resting dangerously low on my back, the other _just_ slipping under my tank top by the tips of his fingers. I let out a tiny mewl of pleasure and he held on to me for a bit longer than he normally would; not letting me withdraw from the kiss…Then I realised why and remembered who was still standing here. _Mark_. I nipped Vaughn's lower lip – I knew that always undid him and threw his mind off helter skelter – and pulled away. I kept my eyes closed and counted to five before turning to face the music. Mark was standing there, bright red in the face and gaping.

"Um." I managed to get out before he ran away like a rabid dog was on his heels. I sighed and leaned into Vaughn's comforting hold. "He's going to be the end of me." I groaned.

"You didn't tell me he was coming onto you." Vaughn grunted out. "You're looking beautifully independent today?" He snorted. "Christ, Chels you must have really torn him a new one. When you told me you'd spoken to him about it, you didn't say you'd _terrified_ the guy."

"Pick a side, Vaughn." I snapped. "Either you feel sorry for him because I chewed him up a bit or you're angry at him for trying it on with me." I paused. "I'm sorry. I just. I should go after him. He's only been here 4 days and yet he's already caused so much emotional upheaval. I shouldn't be taking it out on you." Vaughn squeezed me in to him tightly, then slid one hand down, groped my arse, and let go.

"Off you go then to your other man." He scowled and I rolled my eyes. One petulant man-child at a time, please. I leant up on my tip toes and pecked him before turning and following Mark.

I reached the crossroads and tried to decide if he'd go back to his room in the hotel or not…I don't think he knew me well enough to know I would try to follow him, but then if he was anything like me, he'd rather be in an open space than trapped in a room. I turned right and headed towards the forest. Crashing through the trees instead of following the path, I found him moping by the Harvest Goddess's pond.

"Mark." I panted and he looked up, pout present on his face, though he blushed when he saw me.

"What do _you_ want?" He asked, grouchily as I sat down next to him.

"Don't be bitter." I scolded him.

"Why not?" He whined. "You could have told me you have a boyfriend, y'know. Or even that I was making you uncomfortable. I'm not so awful that I wouldn't have backed off." I winced. I hadn't even thought of just turning around and saying 'jog on, mate' when he fed me one of his lines. Maybe phrased a bit more kindly, but still. It wasn't like the guy _had_ to ask me out on a date before I could make it clear that I wasn't interested. Christ.

"I'm sorry." I said. "I didn't make it obvious. I'm not good with that sort of stuff." He sighed.

"It's alright. I'm just embarrassed I was trying so hard on someone who wasn't interested." I raised an eyebrow at him. "That came out wrong." He amended. "I mean, I was making a fool of myself by laying on all those lines." He winced as if he were remembering them – which he probably was. "God I'm an idiot." I took pity on him and patted him on the back.

"You're not an idiot." I soothed. "I should have dropped Vaughn into a conversation at some point or told you straight when you pulled out your first line." He blushed at the mention of Vaughn and I looked at him questioningly.

"Well, it's just…" He trailed off. "I can't believe I'm telling you this; it's just I don't, um, _do_ , y'know… _that_." I blinked at him and tried to come up with a definition of 'that'.

"Relationships?" I asked and he shook his head. "Er, kissing?" He blushed, looking awkward of himself.

"I, okay, maybe kissing, but anything _more_ and I just…can't. At all. I don't feel it." I looked at him pensively. Either he suffered from ED or he had just come out as asexual. Either way…

"That's nothing to be embarrassed about." I replied, shrugging and standing up seeing as the pout was gone from his face. He'd only known me 4 days and he seemed pretty – what would Mirabelle say? – buoyant; he'd be alright. "I'm going to get back to Vaughn." I smiled gently. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." He waved me off, blush still lighting his cheeks. I looked at him once more and then left, smiling at Alisa as I walked past her on the bridge but not stopping to chat, only giving her a passing 'hello'. I still didn't know how to talk to her or Nathan.

I got back home and walked inside to see that Vaughn had already made himself comfortable on my sofa. I threw myself onto his lap, straddling him and pressing a hard kiss against his mouth.

"I sorted it." I reassured as I pulled back. "He _certainly_ won't be trying to get into my pants."

"You better not have apologised too much." He returned, pecking me on my nose.

"Only once." I said, smiling.

"He should have been apologising to you." He growled, frowning. "Upsettin' ya, then stalkin' ya for the past four days."

"He's not a bad guy." I corrected gently. "Just gets attached easily I think."

"Well so long as he detaches easily as well I'll let you stay on the island."

"I'm sorry, _let_ me?" I asked, pulling back and staring at him disbelievingly. Until I saw the smirk on his face and I laughed, flicking him on the forehead. "Jerk. That was in poor taste."

"Perhaps." He grinned unrepentantly. "Still doesn't mean I like the dick though." the grin slid off his face. "I wanted to punch his face in when I heard him tryin' it on after the mental suffering he'd put you through."

"I think you care about my mental suffering a bit too deeply." I teased. Knowing Mark a bit better maybe I shouldn't have gone all out on him before, but he had improved so maybe I wasn't too in the wrong after all.

"I think you don't care about it deeply enough." Vaughn replied seriously and I looked him in the eye. "You worry too much over other people's feelings, Chels." He said softly. "You can't please everyone all the time."

"I don't try to please everyone all the time." I frowned and he snorted.

"Sorry, hun', but you do."

"Well then we balance each other out, don't we?" I shot back.

"You've certainly taught me to try harder." He agreed. "Now if only you'd let me try to teach you how to try less." I smiled sheepishly.

"I'll do my best to become as rude as possible." I promised, mock solemnly.

"'Atta girl." He chucked my chin and I laughed.

I leant in, planning to occupy his mouth with something other than talking for a few minutes, lips and tongues being called in to play. He slid his hands back into the position they'd been in when we'd said hello, only now without Mark watching and behind the safety of my closed door, he had no qualms with resting one palm hotly on my arse and squeezing, pushing me forwards onto his lap a bit. His second hand slid all the way up the back of my top and fiddled teasingly with my bra clasp. I scooted further onto his lap until my chest was pressed against his and I felt the evidence of his arousal under me as I knocked his hat onto the floor behind the sofa and tangled my hands into his hair. I started tugging on his hair lightly as our lips moved strongly against each other, my hips rocking and pressing down into his. A short moan left my mouth and I pulled my lips away.

"Bed. Now." I panted and Vaughn didn't protest.

 **Chapter End.**

 **A/N** **: I couldn't be arsed with the whole Sabrina-rivalry thing. It just seems so overdone, and let's be honest, Chelsea's been doing fuck all with the mine so far. I've not read a fic where people actually move out like they do in the games so hey. Here's a dash of realism for y'all.**

 **The sexism bit is all so stereotypical because sexism upsets me too much for me to write about something less flamboyantly obvious and more subtle day-to-day things. I'm sorry if it came across as bland and recycled. It's such a delicate topic to talk about, I almost didn't write it. I can see that scene turning away a lot of readers because either people think Chelsea over-reacted or then forgave him and excused him too much afterward, so I hope I balanced it right for most of you.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7.**

\- Vaughn -

Wednesdays were infinitely better, I decided, when spent waking up next to my Chelsea. I watched her sleep for a few minutes; hair scruffy and all over the place without her bandana. I absently traced the scar that my own bandana usually hid. Every time I stayed over at Chelsea's I marvelled at how I didn't have to wear it around her at night. I knew she wanted to know the story, but it was something I knew I would struggle to get the words out to explain. She never pushed though. Only ever kissed the scar when she saw it before carrying on with her day like usual. I couldn't believe we'd only been together seven weeks, give or take a few days. This girl was quickly becoming vital to me. Maybe we both just lived pretty depraved lives – me alone in the city and her stranded from modern life on an island – but we were pretty into each other. Not as bad as Julia and Elliot, sure, but maybe one day… I lay back into the pillows. Her bed was pretty cramped, but I wouldn't change it for my own back at Mirabelle's for the world. Thinking on it…I'd not actually slept there since August. I used my room to work and leave most of my crap, but I always came back to Chelsea's. I moved the hand from my neck to the girl next to me and traced patterns on her chest; sweeping over curves of breasts and bumps of collarbones until she started stirring. Usually she set the alarm for 8AM when I stayed on a Wednesday night, but I'd surprised her yesterday and we'd tumbled into the bed awful quick, so it was still set for 6AM and due to blow in five minutes.

"Wakey wakey." I called, knowing she'd appreciate this sort of awakening better than the blaring of her clock.

"Mm, Vaughn?" She questioned sleepily. "It's not Thursday is it?"

"Not yet, darlin'." I assured her. "Wednesday. We got aaaaall today before it gets to Thursday." I pulled her in; covering her goose-bumped skin with my body and tugging the blankets up for good measure. "The alarm's gonna go any minute."

"Mmm, you're not making it very easy to turn it off." She said, but still not protesting to being in my arms. "We should go to the mountain top today." She yawned. "I've only done it twice."

"Sure, I'm easy." I agreed and a muffled giggle came from where her face was squished against my shoulder.

"You don't need to convince _me_ of that." I huffed out a laugh and dropped a kiss on her temple.

"What does that say about _you_ then, hm?" I asked. Her reply was cut off as the alarm started beeping and we both groaned loudly. God what a couple of grumps we were. Chelsea turned it off, rolled out of bed and stretched. I scooted along the bed and reached out to grab her naked form, sitting on the edge and turning her so she faced me. I tilted my head up, resting my chin on her stomach and peered up at her through the valley between her breasts. "I've changed my mind. I'd rather stay in bed all day." She grinned and stroked my head and I dropped a kiss on the base of her sternum.

"No can do, cowboy." She said, pulling my face up and bending down to press a kiss against my mouth. "Before we do any mountain climbing, you're going to explain to me how to use my new incubator. Then you're going to see if you can get Mara and Lola to eat anything in under an hour. Then we're going to go and impregnate a chicken. We've got a busy day, Partner." And then she pulled away and walked off towards the bathroom. I groaned at the sight and called out,

"You're killin' me!" as I flopped back on the bed. I heard the shower turn on and her voice echo out the open door;

"Blue balls never hurt anyone!"

~.oOo.~

"Goddamn these are the mopiest sons of bitches I've ever laid my eyes upon." I cussed as Mara and Lola stared at me balefully from the corner where they'd huddled the moment Chels and I walked in. I swear to God Gwen had rolled her eyes at them before moving over to the feeding trough I'd just filled. Chelsea was cackling in the background as I tried to herd Lola away from Mara, figuring they might be weaker when separated. Instead, the moment I tried to take her away I found myself falling forwards over Lola's back as Mara angrily butted me in the lower spine. "Son of a _bitch_!" I repeated as Lola mooed loudly and hurried out from underneath me. "The fuck made them so angry at the world?" I asked, turning to Chels who was red in the face from laughter. When I'd first met both these gals, I'd been worried there was something seriously wrong with them, like they were ill or depressed or had something stuck in a hoof. But even I couldn't find fault in the way Chelsea cared for them; they were always clean, didn't have mites in their ears or anywhere else uncomfortable, their heart rates and breathing rates were normal and there wasn't anything extraordinary about their excrement…they got let out regularly into the sunshine and they had other animals to bond with so they weren't feeling lonely…they just really fuckin' hated the world. "They'll eat eventually." I said, giving up. We wouldn't be making our way off to the mountain for a couple of hours yet, so I figured we'd check back then. "Let's just go."

We walked out the barn and as I turned to shut the door I saw them both look at me then very purposefully walk over to the trough and start eating.

" _Sons of bitches!_ "

~.oOo.~

Once Aras had come back a possibly pregnant lady, we made our way up the mountain side. Considering she'd only done it twice, Chelsea was pretty good at navigating it. I guess she would be seeing as she could see half the route from her farmland.

"This…would be…a lot easier if…you had a…horse." I panted out. I was an animal dealer; I was made for strength not endurance!

"Yeah well, I have bigger things to save up for." Chelsea replied, barely out of breath. Goddamn girl was always walkin' everywhere. I grunted in question but she took it as an agreement as we fell silent. We turned the corner around a sparse copse of trees and I heard – rather than saw – the low growling of a pack of wild dogs. Chelsea was looking back at me so walked close enough for them to notice her and move towards her.

"Um." She froze when she saw them and sent me a glance over her shoulder. "Vaughn. They're really cute and I want to pet them but they're wild and angry and what should I do?" She asked quickly, a hint of panic in her voice. I held back a laugh and went into her rucksack, pulling out our lunch. It didn't have any beef or somethin' the dogs would really appreciate, seeing as Chels didn't eat that kind of delicious goodness, but I think there was some tuna in the sandwiches.

"They'll just be hungry." I said as I stepped up to her and crouched down, holding my hand out with bits of mushed up tuna in it. The nearest dog out of the three of them came up and sniffed my hand cautiously. It then grabbed a mouthful and darted away to eat it, hunching its shoulders and wolfing it down with its back turned to the other two. I picked some more out the sandwich and held my hand out for the next one and it mimicked the actions of the first dog. Once they'd both finished eating they looked at us warily, barked once then took off down the hill. The third one looked conflicted as it yipped after them. I quickly emptied the rest of the sandwich into my hand and it looked at me. It was a lot smaller and scruffier than the other two and a pale brown color rather than the dirty gray the other two had been. "This one's a stray." I said as it limped closer. "And injured. I guess the other two thought it was a liability."

"That's awful." Chelsea said, slowly crouching next to me and reaching out to take the fish from me.

"That's nature." I said, coldly. "If something becomes too big a burden, you get rid of it." Chels gave me a worried look and I shook myself from my dark mood, watching the little dog approach her and eat from the palm of her hand. "I think he's been around humans before." I said, watching how he allowed Chels to pat him on his back as he ate. "Probably a stray from the city that was abandoned and managed to find his way onto the boat somehow."

"Poor little guy." Chels cooed and I could see it happening before my eyes before she even thought of it herself and turned to me. "D'you think I can keep him?" I covered my eyes with my hand and shook my head woefully. This girl…

"I think you can do whatever you want with him." I replied diplomatically. "But you'll have to get him to follow you to the farm first. I don't think he'll take kindly to bein' picked up."

She stood up slowly and took the other sandwich from my hand. "That's easy seeing as we have this." She pulled out a small strip of tuna and waved it in front of the dog's nose tantalisingly, walking backwards slowly. "Come on, Deimos." She called and lowered the tuna a bit.

"Deimos?" I asked, not even surprised anymore. The dog – _Deimos –_ took a few hesitant steps forwards and slurped up the fish.

"Good boy!" Chelsea praised, giving him another piece as a treat. And so it continued at a painfully slow pace, Chels walking away a little while, calling his name, the dog limping over to her, followed by praise then rinse and repeat. When we reached the bridge I was sent ahead as a scare tactic to anyone on the street to make sure they weren't going to bother _Deimos_ any. It didn't take too much; a couple of scowls to the tourists and angry hand gestures that were universal in any language, and the path to her farm was empty enough for her to lead the dog through. By the time we reached the farmhouse, Deimos was outright docile. I still didn't trust him though – one should never 100% completely trust a dog, especially not one that's a) wild, b) injured and c) most likely previously abused. Still. Deimos seemed young – maybe a couple of years on him but not much more – so he'd probably bounce back with time.

"He should sleep in the barn, Chels." I advised, wary of letting her sleep in the house with a wild, injured dog.

"Oh, pish, he'll be fine in here. Besides, I've got you to protect me tonight if he panics."

"Did you just ' _pish_ ' me?" I asked, an eyebrow rising as she went about preparing another fish for Deimos who was sat happily at her feet, tail twitching as if he remembered that he used to wag it but hadn't done it in so long he wasn't sure anymore.

"I keep finding myself picking up your slang." She replied with a shrug. "I've got to keep up the British side somehow. Gannon doesn't socialise nearly enough to do it for me."

" _Gannon's_ from _England_?" I asked, flabbergasted. "But he sounds nothing like you!" She gave me a stare which so clearly said 'I expected better from you' that I blushed. So what if British regional accents weren't my forte? I bet she couldn't tell the difference between a New Yorker and a Floridian if she tried.

"Where did you _think_ he was from?" She asked, pulling out a bowl and tipping the fish into it before moving to boil some rice.

"I dunno." I answered, embarrassed. "Scotland?" I guessed and she sighed heavily. Wrong.

"Scotland counts as Britain, Vaughn." She said in her lecturing voice. "Though they'd love it if it didn't." She added in an undertone. "Gannon's from Somerset. It's a south west county which is pretty heavy on the farming. It's where I was aiming to end up once I was back in England." I'd never heard her talk about why she was in America in the first place and I was about to ask when she gave me a look I was pretty well acquainted with giving myself. Right, a topic for another time then.

"Well they all sound the same to me." I grouched and she laughed.

"Where's YouTube when you need it? I promise even you would notice the difference if we played them side by side. Now. We need to do something about Mr. Scruffy over here."

"I'd start by just brushing his fur out." I said as I crouched down next to Deimos and gave him a gentle once over with my hands. "He's limping on his leg; it looks like his dew claw needs cutting and has dug into his skin." I pulled the fur away around the area as softly as I could and saw the tip of the claw planted firmly into the skin of his paw. "I can cut it for ya, but we'll probably want to sedate him for it until he trusts you more. Otherwise he seems pretty clean all things considered. No mange or fleas. We'll watch him over the next few days for signs of rabies, but he seems pretty normal to me. I'd shower him after I've done his claw, that way he'll still be drugged up. His ears need cleaning out, but otherwise he's doin' alright." I said as I scratched him behind his ear and praised him for letting me touch his sensitive areas. I heard Chelsea running the cooked rice under cold water to cool it down. "Just make sure to handle his ears, paws and tail as much you can from now on; get him used to it so he doesn't react badly to check-ups. He's still got his balls, so if anyone on the island gets a bitch be aware that she might end up pregnant if you don't keep them separated." I looked up to see Chelsea staring at me heatedly as she held the bowl of tuna and rice loosely in her hands. "I'll make sure to get Mirabelle to stock pet food so you don't have to do much more cooking for him." I stood up and cracked my back, but Chels still hadn't said anything. "Everythin' alright?" I asked and she flushed; plopping the food down in front of Deimos after holding it above his head til he sat. Yeah. This pup definitely had experience with humans.

"Well, nothing's ever gone wrong with the animals – thankfully." She explained, not meeting my gaze. "And hearing you take control like that is really freaking attractive." I raised an eyebrow and she darted her eyes up to meet mine, before darting them away again.

"I'll let you watch me clip his claw, if you want?" I asked, grinning to myself as she blushed again. It was so damn hard to fluster this girl, I was taking advantage. "Or might that be a bit too much?"

"Dick." She grumbled, face a bright pink. "Just watch and see if I'm ever honest with you again." I laughed and pulled her in for a kiss. We stumbled over to the couch and were happily making out when a muddy body threw itself onto our laps.

"It's like we've adopted a kid." I grumbled as Deimos turned in a circle twice and lay down on Chelsea's lap. "I'll get your brush then." I said as I heaved myself up, picking up some scissors on the way. His fur seemed like it would be quite soft normally, so it was probably caked with tangles of undergrowth and mud. I moved back, brush and scissors in hand, and started combing through the tangled fur. There was something therapeutic that only came from brushing a dog; it wasn't the same with livestock. Chelsea cooed and encouraged Deimos as we tried to force him onto his back to get at his underbelly but he started growling and writhing in our grasp so we stopped. Chels looked crestfallen so I pressed a reassuring kiss against her forehead. "He doesn't trust us enough yet. He's had a rough time of it and he's been living wild; lying on their backs is a submissive position for dogs, he's not going to do it very willingly."

"Yeah, you're right." She sighed. "He's already looking loads better anyway." The mud had been dry and had brushed out easily and Deimos was now looking pretty spick and span apart from his darker underbelly. More would come out in a bath, but that could wait. "He's almost perfect." She said humming thoughtfully before untying her bandana from her head and relocating it to around his neck. He shook his head and tried to get his teeth at it; unused to the sensation of something constricting around his neck. "That'll do until you can get him a proper collar from the city."

"Oh, 'until I do', huh?" I asked, an eyebrow raised and she smiled unrepentantly at me. Deimos settled down and jumped back onto the couch, pushing his way in between us and resting his chin on my thigh.

"He's _our_ dog now. Only, he'll be living with me and he'll only get to see you when you come home." _Home_. I was mildly surprised to feel that the word fit. I still felt like I was strung between two places on the island – Chelsea's and Aunt Bella's – but in a competition between the island and the city, the former definitely won out. I smiled and stroked Deimos leisurely.

"Some couples get a song; we get a dog."

~.oOo.~

I spent the next week scouring the city for what I thought Chels would deem the "perfect collar". They weren't particularly hard to find, of course, but I wanted one that was _right_. I found one eventually on the weekend; red leather with a smooth stainless steel name plate at the front. It wasn't glitzy or glamorous, but it was better than a bog standard one and this way his name would be on the collar rather than attached to some flimsy tag that wasn't particularly favourable for farm life.

My work place did engravings for tags and stuff and I'd been trained in it when I first started, though once they realised I didn't have any customer skills to speak of they'd left me with the overnight orders rather than the ones that the customer wanted done there and then in front of them. So I took the collar in to work with me on Tuesday and engraved it myself with Deimos's name and Chelsea's phone number. I debated for a few minutes before adding my cell number underneath. That purchase had been of my own volition, so Chels could phone me at any time rather than just when I'd be home. It didn't work very well on the island, but then I didn't need it there. The only people who had the number were the city hospital, Chels, Mirabelle and Julia. I don't think Denny even had a phone. I'd agreed with Mike that I could take one of the microchip injectors to the island with me to tag him, so I left for the island that night with quite a bounty indeed.

Arriving at the beach I was surprised to see that Chels wasn't waitin' for me. I _had_ told her I'd be coming home on Tuesday nights regularly, right? I ambled through the streets, twirling Deimos's collar around my finger as I went. Upon reaching her farm I heard a series of barks as my feet crunched in the dirt. _Well he certainly makes a good guard dog_ I thought as I knocked on the door and the barks got more insistent.

"Good boy, Deimos, now quiet!" I heard Chels say and the dog immediately shut up. Christ, she'd been busy training. The door opened and her eyes widened as they flicked between me and her watch. "I completely forgot you were coming tonight!" She cried as she flung the door all the way open then flung herself at me with equal enthusiasm. She pressed a kiss to my mouth and then slid her hands down to my own where she encountered the collar. "What's this?" She asked pulling it out of my hands and under the light so she could inspect it.

"Collar." I grunted, feeling anxious again like I did when I gave her the dress. Her finger ran over the numbers engraved and I saw her recognise the second one.

"Oh." She said and my heart sank. Didn't she like it? Was putting my number on there being too presumptuous? She _did_ say he was 'our dog' but had she just been kidding? "Vaughn it's perfect." Her voice was thick and I peeked from under my hat to see her staring at me, all the warmth of the sun in her gaze. " _You're_ perfect." She added, then leant up and gave me the softest, gentlest series of kisses I'd ever received. They were the sort of kisses that made your heart skip a beat and melt at the same time, the sort where your eyes fell shut without you actively doing it and you lost sense of time as you just breathed in the air around you and felt the breeze on your skin and the heat from the body in front of you. They were the sort of kisses that made you realise _shit, I'm falling for this girl_ before washing the thought from your mind before you could panic about it.

In fact, they were so effective that I made it through a happy reunion with Deimos, a showcase of his new tricks he'd learnt – sit, down and quiet – a bowl of porridge made with home-grown oats and Gwen's milk – 'one day it'll be home-made honey you'll be adding' Chels has said as she'd set the bowl in front of me – and a bath, before we were lying in bed and the thought wafted back into existence in my mind. I shouldn't be surprised – Chels was an easy girl to fall for – but I hadn't been expecting to get this close to it after only five months of knowing the girl. I wasn't quite there yet, but I was getting close and I had to say that with her emotional enthusiasm, I hadn't expected to beat Chels to that particular finishing line.

~.oOo.~

\- Chelsea -

The last Friday of October dawned faster than ever and I merrily jumped onto the 9 o'clock boat out to the mainland; rucksack slung over my back holding a Tupperware of homemade porridge and some overnight stuff. Aras, Arlette, Mara, Lola and Gwen had all been left in their barns despite the lovely weather and I'd dropped Deimos off with Julia for the day and night. Aras' egg was sat in the incubator and Jules was under strict instructions to check on it but to phone Vaughn first before changing any settings. I stayed out on deck during the ride; enjoying the breeze and the sea spray and the period where we were surrounded by ocean on every side, no land to be seen. I thought it'd make me panic, being on a boat again, but the day was just so different to the dark one back in March that my brain couldn't seem to equate the two experiences.

It took a couple of hours, but we reached the dock eventually and I saw my cowboy waiting at the end of it by the mooring post.

"Howdy, Partner!" I called, ignoring the annoyed cries of the crewmen and jumping overboard onto the pier before they'd finished mooring up. I practically threw myself at Vaughn; arms wrapping around his neck and face grinning against his neckerchief.

"Howdy, cowgirl." He replied, laughing at my enthusiasm and lifting me up, spinning me, then dropping me again as I squealed.

"I'm so excited for this trip." I said as I disengaged from him. "You have no idea."

"I think I got an inklin' or two." He smiled, lacing our fingers together, taking my overnight bag from me and leading the way. "The apartment's a while away. Just outside the city."

"That's fine. It's such a lovely day today, anyway." I smiled back and he snorted gesturing to the people walking around us in coats. I think I even saw one person in a scarf. Looking down at the outfit I'd picked for the day; shorts and a t-shirt, I realised I could not look more like a tourist from Northern Europe if I tried. I just rolled my eyes at him and merrily fell into step, staring at everything around me in this new city.

We got to Vaughn's flat and I took it upon myself to have a nosy about; opening drawers and looking in cupboards.

"Does my crockery satisfy your standards?" He drawled when I was poking my head into the cabinets in his kitchen.

"Oh shush, I'm just checking that you have any in the first place." I hushed him as I moved through the small flat and into his bedroom. There was less to rummage through here; a wardrobe and a bedside table, but everything in the room was pretty Spartan and done in shades of beige. It was completely unlike his room at Mirabelle's in every way other than it also contained a bed. "It doesn't even look like you live in here." I said as he followed me in and wrapped his arms around me from behind.

"I barely do." He replied and leant down to place a kiss on my cheek.

"But you're in the city for longer than you're on the island." I pointed out, turning in his arms and looking up at him. He shrugged slightly.

"Just because you're alive in a place don't mean you _live_ there. I sleep here and that's all I need from it." I frowned and sent another sweeping glance around the room. The desk in the corner was completely empty, there wasn't even a stray book lying around or a laptop or _anything_ other than the boxy telly in the living room for him to do in his spare time. There weren't any knickknacks anywhere – I knew back at Mirabelle's he had piles of things. Shells he'd collected from his walks on the beach; a jar of the gold coins that Denny fished up and gave to him claiming his 'Magpie-like tendencies would enjoy them'; feathers from the island's brightest coloured birds; at least three reading books on his bedside table at all times. His room had become a lot more lived in and colourful over all the dark shades since that first time I'd gone in there four months ago. "Chels." He drew my attention back to him. I looked up at him. "My home is on the island." He said and my heart melted.

"Oh," I said, surprised and a little bit frustrated. "You can't tell me that sort of stuff when you can't move there permanently." I sighed. "It's not fair on my heart; I'd rather think you preferred it here. I hate hearing about how miserable you are here when we can't change it." He smiled at me – not what I was expecting – and an excited little glint filled his eye; the same sort of glint that was present when he suggested his whole trip; the sort of glint which meant we were going to get to spend more time together than I thought.

"Well, I've got a contract to fulfil, but after that Mike may be letting me work Tuesdays on the island as well." He said, grinning. I felt my face light up in return.

"How come?!" I cried, beaming and leaning up to kiss him. I'd take any extra time I could with my cowboy.

"After I took that Monday for Celia for the fireworks show we both spoke to him about making the switch permanent." He explained, moving to sit in the centre of his bed then pulling me into his lap. "Both her parents work as well, so it meant she could drop Hugh at school for them instead of him walkin' cos they both have an early shift on Mondays."

"Won't Celia miss you if you're gone three days a week?" I asked and he huffed.

"Chels, she wouldn't see me anyway would she? I only talk to her for you 'cause I know you think I need more friends than you and Denny." I frowned and he continued. "I only see the girl about twice a week anyway."

" _I_ only see you twice a week and the rest of the time is plenty enough for us to miss each other." I reminded him.

"Yeah but I _care_ about you." He rebuked.

"Anyone who you know so much about is more than someone you don't care about, Vaughn. It shows dedication to a friendship." He sighed and pulled me in.

"It shows dedication to _you._ " He replied. _"_ I only talk to her for you; I only find that crap out for you; this entire trip is for _our_ relationship. I want to spend more time with you, I couldn't give two shits if you meet my co-workers or not and I'm sorry if that ruins this image of this secretly nice guy who's just shy you have of me, but truth is I just _really_ don't have enough fucks to give about people to want to make nice to them if I don't have to." I sighed heavily pressing an apologetic kiss against his neck.

"It doesn't ruin my image of you." I mumbled. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be putting expectations on you based on who I am when we're different people."

"And this is why I'm fightin' for that extra day." He squeezed me. "Because you're amazin' like that." He reached up to run his fingers through my hair and nudged my head up until I was looking at him. "I see how proud you get of me when I tell you some random fact about Mike's life or somethin' and it makes me try harder. I've never had that with someone – wantin' to make them proud – so I'll keep talkin' to them, but that don't mean I have to want to spend any time with them outside of the hours I'm contracted to."

I reached up to stroke his handsome face, marvelling in this creature that had decided I was worthy of his devotion. With my other hand I stole his hat – something I'd _always_ wanted to do – and plopped it down on my own head.

"Cowboys are lone rangers." I growled out in my best impression of him. "It's just their way of life." He rolled his eyes and yanked me down onto him at the same time that he flopped back onto his bed. I shrieked but was quickly silenced by his lips on mine.

The hat fell to the side, unnoticed.

~.oOo.~

"You didn't tell me she was _pretty_." I hissed at Vaughn as Celia disappeared out back to make us some tea. I could hear her instructing Hugh – her equally adorable younger brother – on how to brew the perfect cuppa. We were standing in the store front of his workplace – the bit with shelves and feed and other items for livestock and pets. I could hear the distinctive sound of animals coming from behind a different door to the one Celia and Hugh had disappeared through, and I assumed that was where he spent most of his time. He raised an eyebrow at me, unimpressed.

"I never noticed." He replied and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Don't bullshit me. Just because you've got a girlfriend doesn't mean you become blind to other people's appearances." I pointed out and he sighed.

"Alright so maybe in an abstract sense I realised she wasn't _hideous_." He conceded. "But I've never felt tempted by, attracted to or any inclination to spend more time with her." He rattled off and I swear he said it so smoothly it was something he must have prepared beforehand. "We're just colleagues. Colleagues who only speak because _you_ ask me to." He reminded me and I huffed, having to admit he had a point. "I don't get jealous of you spending so much time with Denny and he's a good lookin' guy who spends far too much time around you half naked. And then there's Mark always on the prowl."

"Denny's _gay_!" I cried, ignoring the Mark comment. Vaughn knew perfectly well my stance on that. "If you were jealous of us spending time together I'd have to question your maturity."

"He's bisexual, _actually_." Vaughn corrected me. "So he has just as much a chance as I do of gettin' feelings for you and tryin' something on with you."

"You have a _chance_ of getting feelings for me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I should hope you already do." He rolled his eyes in great dramatic circles, but found himself smiling anyway despite himself.

"You know what I mean. He's not risk free."

"Apart from he's happily in a relationship with Pierre." I reminded him.

"Yeah and Celia's always blushin' over Marlin." I looked at him questioningly and he sighed as if explaining things to me were a great hardship. "Marlin's some guy who shares her timetable. Italian-American. Hardly ever speaks."

"So she likes the silent type?" I asked, teasing him now. He scoffed and pulled me in for a kiss.

"You're impossible."

"Mmm, but you still like me." I hummed, pressing a few kisses to his lips in quick succession.

"I question why on a daily basis." He said and I laughed, taking his hat after noting that this part of the store was pretty shaded. A polite cough sounded from behind the counter and I turned to see Celia smiling at us warmly.

"Tea's ready if you want it."

"Thanks." I said as I took Vaughn's hand and followed Celia through the door into a small kitchen space. We all sat around the table in the centre, Hugh humming to himself as he inspected the racing car mug Celia had found for him.

"Mike's at a meeting in the city." She explained. "Or he'd be here to meet you too. We've both been so curious about the Chelsea who Vaughn never stops talking about." I raised an eyebrow at Vaughn and he blushed. Celia laughed this tinkling little laugh and amended her previous statement. "Or rather, when he does talk to us it's often preceded with 'Chelsea wants to know' or 'Chelsea asked me to ask you'." I grinned as Vaugh scowled, not being able to hide under his hat as it was sitting on my head.

"And I've been curious to meet the one person Vaughn's not been able to come up with anything mean to say about." I grinned harder as Vaughn turned his scowl on me. "And this little guy!" I enthused as I turned to Hugh. "Who I hear is the best sportsman in the county." Hugh beamed this big gappy grin at me.

"Only for my grade." He corrected. "But one day I'll be the best in the entire country!" I nodded seriously at him, then pointed at Vaughn.

"So I hear you're going to be riding a horse today. This guy here is an expert at that." I lowered my voice conspiringly. "He's like, an animal whisperer." Hugh's eyes got really big at that and he turned to Vaughn.

"Is that true? Can you talk to animals? What do cows say? They're always just mooing an' lookin' dumb. Are they really stupid? Do they know they're cows?" He shot off rapid fire, and I saw Vaughn's eyes get wide as he leaned back a bit, as if the questions were actually physically hitting him.

"Hugh." Celia reprimanded gently. "Why don't we all go out to the barn and Vaughn can show you how to care for the animals so you can talk to them, too?" Hugh nodded really hard and jumped off his seat, grabbing Vaughn by the sleeve and pulling him out the kitchen.

Celia and I just watched; me smiling for Vaughn and her smiling for Hugh.

~.oOo.~

"Yeehaw!" Hugh cried as he trotted around on a pony, Vaughn following him on a great black stallion. "Giddy up! We gots a hoedown to get to by the saloon!" I laughed as I ambled by next to Vaughn on my own horse. I'd grown up riding them at a stables in Surrey, so had no trouble keeping up, especially to Hugh's sedate pace. "Pony up you namby-pamby greenhorns!"

"He's been watching too many old western movies recently." Celia explained from where she was brushing a young sheep – Mike's favourite I had been informed. "Once I told him about Vaughn he got worried and thought he needed to brush up on his cowboy lingo."

It had become apparent over the course of the afternoon that Vaughn was Hugh's new hero. He was pretty keen on me seeing as I was the one who worked on a farm, but the _cowboy_ was his real paramour. He'd taken to following Vaughn's mannerisms and speaking as 'authentically' as he could as he tripped over his own feet to trot at Vaughn's heels. Celia had spent most of the time apologising on Hugh's behalf, but I could see that although he put some stick up, Vaughn was actually sort of enjoying having a little admirer. A dark grey rain cloud had gathered overhead as time continued, until it was actually worryingly dark for an autumnal afternoon. It hadn't burst yet, but it had made it dim enough that Hugh was now trotting on his little pebbledash pony in Vaughn's hat. It was too big for him and if his horse wasn't making most of his directional choices for him, I'm pretty sure he would have bumped into something by now.

The cloud did burst eventually though, and we headed back inside after Vaughn and I herded the animals back in the barn, Hugh running around our ankles stomping in the forming puddles as Celia tried to call him in in vain. We towelled off a bit inside and said our goodbyes, borrowing an umbrella from the shop and heading back into the rain.

"I think you're his new favourite person." I said once we reached his flat. The umbrella hadn't made a whole lot of difference seeing as we were already wet from herding the animals, so I followed without question as Vaughn toed off his boots and padded over to his bathroom.

"He's a cute kid." He said, a soft look in his eyes. I had to admit, Vaughn had never really struck me as a kid person, but after seeing him around Hugh today I could totally imagine it; a miniature Vaughn running around as big Vaughn taught him how to lasso things and herd cattle whilst galloping around on a horse. I hummed in agreement and started stripping down as Vaughn did the same after turning the knob on his shower to let the water heat up.

"You should invite them over to the island for Halloween. It's safer to trick-or-treat there and Hugh would have Eliza and Charlie to play with. They can take your room at Mirabelle's if you don't mind giving it up." Vaughn hummed in agreement and we stepped under the spray of the shower, after which there wasn't much talking done at all.

~.oOo.~

"I can't sleep in this bed the same now that I know how it feels to have you in it." Vaughn's voice said down the line as I puttered around the kitchen making some dinner for myself and scraping out some dog food into a bowl for Deimos.

"You could get a blow-up doll and name her Chelsea." I suggested as I made Deimos go through his series of tricks before patting him and giving him his food. He'd sit, high five, lie down, play dead if I pretended to shoot a gun and wait to touch the food before I told him to. I didn't know much about previously abused, abandoned and wild dogs, but I thought having a routine would make him feel more secure. His life was a pretty simple one; we woke up, I fed him, we did farm work, he would stay on the plot if I left to the village and in the evenings he'd get dinner and we'd go to bed. He knew he got praised if he did something right and scolded – but never hit – when he did something wrong. He knew he was allowed on the sofa but not on the bed; allowed to piddle outside but not inside; allowed to play with his toys and not the legs of the furniture…everything was laid out in black and white for him and he seemed to be thriving under the care.

"Maybe I should just get a massive teddy bear." He hummed and I giggled at the mental image.

"Cutiepie." I teased. "I think I know someone who could hook you up with one." I said thinking of Witch Princess.

"Oh yeah? And since when did you mingle with teddy bear dealers?"

"Since I started mingling with animal dealers who are giant teddy bears." I replied. I loved our phonecalls. Half the time they dissolved into nonsense, but it didn't really matter what was being said, just that the communication was there and we both knew we were thinking of each other. "Two more days 'til you're back here again." I encouraged him. "Are Celia and Hugh coming for Halloween on Tuesday?"

"Yeah, they're going to catch the morning boat in. Apparently Hugh wants to spend the day on the farm before trick or treating in the evenin'." I hummed as I forked a mouthful of pasta into my mouth, enjoying the flavour burst of butternut squash and red onion on my tongue.

"That's fine by me. I hope he knows I don't have any horses to play with."

"Deimos will probably do well enough." I frowned, looking down at the soppy eyes of the mongrel at my feet.

"Do you think he'll be okay with Hugh? I've not introduced him to Eliza or Charlie yet. I don't want him to bite anyone." It seemed impossible to believe when you looked at him, but I only had to think back to when he went for Vaughn when Vaughn chipped him the previous week. He'd stopped once he realised what he'd done and his teeth hadn't gone through Vaughn's gloves, but the intention was there.

"Hugh's nine, Chels. He knows not to tug his fur and yank his tail. We'll just tell him to be gentle and he will be." I ate some more pasta and thought it through. I was extremely protective of my animals; the chickens and Deimos especially so. They were too small to really be able to protect themselves and I knew if Deimos bit anyone that'd be a strike against him. I didn't know what laws we fell under here on the island, but I didn't want to risk someone trying to claim that Deimos should be put down because he's dangerous.

"Yeah, you're right." I sighed, twirling some spaghetti. I'd never taken the time to hand make anything when I'd lived in London – the furthest I went was buying fresh pasta rather than dry, and chopping up some cherry tomatoes and parmesan to add to a pre-made pesto sauce. Now, however, I enjoyed kneading my own pasta dough and making my own spaghetti, tagliatelle, ravioli and tortellini. I was living off carbs with the occasional protein from some fish, but it didn't really matter with all the manual labour I did every day. Eating everything fresh and knowing I'd grown half the stuff to make it just made everything taste better. "He'll probably run around playing fetch more than he'll sit and pet him anyway."

"Exactly, it'll all be fine." He yawned. "I gotta be heading to bed now, darlin'. I'll speak to you tomorrow."

"G'night." I said softly and he returned it before I hung up the phone. A sense of melancholy always filled me after saying goodbye to Vaughn so I put on a smile and busied myself with the dishes, talking to Deimos instead.

~.oOo.~

" _Woah_ you have a _mountain_ here!" Hugh cried as he spun around on the spot on my farm " _And_ a _jungle_."

"We have people who live in the jungle, too." I said as I watered my crops. I'd left all my chores late as usual seeing as Vaughn had been here the night before, and decided to pick up Hugh and Celia from the dock before showing the little guy the way of farm living.

"Like in Tarzan?!" He asked and I snorted as I made the connection between Tarzan and Jane and Shea and Lanna. I can't believe I'd never thought of that before.

"You kids these days still watch old films like Tarzan?" I asked. "I'd have thought you'd be all caught up in, I don't know, Despicable Me or something." Hugh shook his head furiously from side to side.

"Celia says that the classics are the best." He recited. "So I'm watching _all_ of them before I start watchin' the new stuff."

"Celia's a very wise woman then." I nodded sagely, before gesturing for him to come over to where I was standing. "You see this purple thing here?" I asked, pointing to a ripe aubergine.

"That's an eggplant, right?"

"Sure." I sighed. "Now really gently, reach out and squeeze it." Hugh looked at me oddly but did so anyway. "Now do the same to this one." I pointed to one nearby that was still green and he did the same. "What's the difference?"

"That one squishes more." He said, pointing at the green one. I nodded and held out two palm sized ones; both dark in colour.

"Now what's the difference in these two?" I asked, rotating them slightly.

"That one's shinier." He said, pointing at one of them.

"Perfect!" I smiled at him and he beamed at me. "When an aubergine – er, eggplant – is ready to pick, it'll be this pretty colour and shiny in the sun." I squeezed it slightly and showed him how my fingers didn't make any marks. "If my fingers leave indentations in the skin, then it means it's not ripe yet." He nodded eagerly, taking in my words. "Now you hold it for me for a second." I said, passing it into his smaller grip and pulling out some secateurs. "When it's ready to pick, I hold it by its stem here, watching out for the prickly bits, then cut it here." I snipped the stem and it fell heavily into Hugh's hand. "Then I can either ship it to get money or I can keep it for myself and cook it."

"Can we cook this one?" He asked, eyes wide. And I smiled.

"Tell you what; you run off and get your sister from Mirabelle's and I'll see what I can rustle up with this." He nodded and disappeared through the greenery of my field and I stood up. Celia had been feeling a bit peaky after the sail over, so she'd opted to stay at Mirabelle's and unpack their stuff whilst Hugh had come to the farm with Vaughn and I. "He's so adorable." I said to Vaughn as I snipped some more aubergines off their vines and put them in my basket. Vaughn had been leaning against the back wall of my house in the shade and watching me teach Hugh the ropes of farming.

"You're really good with him." He replied, pushing off to take the basket from me as I wiped my forehead.

"Only 'cause he never stops talking. Quiet kids are sweet, but I never know what to talk to them about."

"It's not too hard." Vaughn shrugged as we entered the house and I started washing and prepping the aubergines. "Just ask them their favourite colour then they'll lead you from there."

"Oh? And what makes you the expert?" I asked, smiling as he took over washing as I began chopping; him handing me the less impressive ones and setting the prettier ones aside to ship.

"I had a brother." He said and my hand slipped, almost slicing my finger with the knife as it did. I peered at him to see he wasn't looking at me, but out the kitchen window. I could see Hugh tugging Celia up the path and jabbering on about nothing as she laughed.

"Had?" I ventured, putting the knife down and turning to Vaughn. He looked at me and shook his head.

"He died in the same accident that crushed my windpipe." I took note of the new information and turned back to the aubergines, not wanting him to think I was pitying him by reaching out to him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that." I said as I resumed my chopping. "How old were you both?" He started scrubbing under the stream of water coming from the tap again.

"I was ten. Cass was eight." I swear I felt my heart hurt at that. They were so _young_. Before I could reply to him, the door opened and Celia and Hugh came charging in. Vaughn glanced at Hugh then quickly looked away and I steamrolled in to cover for his needing to take a few minutes to compose himself.

"How are you feeling?" I asked Celia as I led her to the kitchen table.

"Better, thanks." She smiled. "Mirabelle made me some herb tea using the local grasses. It cleared me up in no time."

"Yeah we've got some pretty good remedy ingredients on the island." I nodded. "Has Hugh told you he picked the _best_ aubergine just now?" I asked and Celia smiled fondly down at her brother.

"He's been debating which is better between crops and animals the entire way up here."

"Thankfully I don't have to decide." I said as I moved back over to where Vaughn had taken over and was putting the aubergines in the oven. "I get the best of both worlds." I started chopping some tomatoes and turned to Vaughn. "I've got enough for us if used sparingly, but I could use some more mozzarella." I said to him quietly, raising an eyebrow to let him know to use the escape if he needed it.

"I'll go get some from Mirabelle." He said and I leant up to press a light kiss against his mouth. He sighed heavily through his nose and stroked my cheek gently.

"Take your time." I murmured against his lips and he nodded before reaching down to squeeze my hand then leaving.

"Everything okay?" Celia asked over Hugh's gagging noises at our display of affection.

"Yeah, travelling back and forth so often just takes it out of him sometimes." I lied and she seemed to accept it as I turned back to the tomatoes and watched Vaughn's retreating figure down the path. Christ, what the man had been through…

Vaughn returned with the cheese in better spirits, and we all sat down and had a pleasant meal together; Hugh eating all of his aubergine even though it was pretty obvious that he wasn't a huge fan of the taste.

After reassuring Celia that the jungle was safe so long as you stuck to the paths – I still didn't know where Shea and Wada sourced their furs from – she took Hugh off to explore which allowed me to

turn to Vaughn and pull him in for the tightest hug I'd ever given him.

"I just want to say that I'm sorry that that happened to you and your brother and I want you to know that I care for you _so_ much and I'll always be willing to listen should you ever want to tell me the whole story. Nothing you can say will chase me away so if that thought ever crosses your mind banish it before it takes root." I rushed out before letting go and grabbing the lunch plates. Vaughn blinked a couple of times before smiling and taking the plates from me, letting me hop back into the kitchen to start making chocolate treats and sugary sweets for the kids.

~.oOo.~

"Trick or treat!" A little chorus of voices cried out as small fists started beating on the door. Vaughn went over and opened the door for me as I followed with a bowl full of sweets.

"Hi, Lady!" Charlie greeted. He had changed out of his usual attire into darker clothes of a similar theme and was carrying a small plastic katana-style sword. Eliza was stood next to him dressed in a Tinkerbell costume and Hugh was next to her, dressed as – no surprises here – a cowboy.

"No way, so your Dad just like, _made_ the houses people live in here?" Hugh was saying to Eliza wide eyed. Eliza nodded and giggled.

"My daddy's really strong; he just has to _think_ of something he wants to make and he can make it."

"D'you think he could make a ranch for me so I can ride horses and grow eggplants?" Hugh asked, excitedly, his blue eyes sparkling. Eliza tapped her chin in thought and Charlie's expression fell as she replied; the two of them completely ignoring his presence.

"Maybe. I guess if I asked him to, he might. My daddy always gets me everything I want, no matter how big it is."

"That's really cool. Whenever I ask my daddy for something big he tells me we need to wait until the piggybank is full. It must be a _real_ big piggybank though because I asked for a bike _years_ ago when I was really young – like, _seven_ – and I still don't got a bike."

" _I've_ had _two_ bikes." Charlie grouched and Eliza frowned at him.

"Shush, Charlie, it's not nice to brag." She scolded and I had to hold back a snort. _Hypocrite_.

"You guys want some candy or not?" Vaughn drawled, interrupting them before one of Charlie and Eliza's infamous fights broke out.

"Yes please!" Hugh grinned, holding out a little plastic cauldron which already had some sweets in it. Eliza and Charlie were sending each other glares so I quickly scooped some up and dropped it in their bags.

"Your cauldron is so cute, Hugh." Eliza said to him, purposefully turning her back on Charlie. "It must be because you're from the city. People from the city are so fashionable. I wish Chen would sell something cuter than these boring old bags." She waved the one she was holding. It was fabric with a shaky pumpkin drawn on it and "Eliza" written underneath it.

"I made that for you!" Charlie cried, going red in the face, but Eliza didn't even spare him a glance.

"Or maybe it's because you're _nine_. Nine year olds have much better taste than eight year olds." Charlie flushed harder and his eyes welled up. He gave Eliza and a bewildered Hugh an angry glance before turning on his heel and running away. Eliza sighed and rolled her eyes before turning on her heel and following him. "I _suppose_ I better see if he's alright." She said as if it was the greatest chore in the world and as if she hadn't been the cause of his upset.

"What a little bitch." Vaughn whistled under his breath. "That was like watching a train wreck." I frowned chastisingly at him as I watched the girl reach the end of the path and continue striding confidently into town.

"I didn't mean to make anyone angry." Hugh's small voice came from the doorway and I looked over to see him looking at his feet.

"You didn't, Hugh." I said, crouching down and pulling him towards me to give him a hug. "Eliza and Charlie are always fighting like that." He didn't look much appeased so I lowered my voice. "D'you wanna know a secret?" He sniffed and nodded. "Charlie really likes Eliza so he likes to do nice things for her, right? Eliza likes him too but she likes to tease him instead. She's not got the hang of it yet." He looked up at me hopefully and I smiled. "How about we take you round the rest of the town? You can't have got very far yet."

"Yes, please!" He cried out and I stood up, holding out a hand for him to hold. Vaughn stepped up behind me and squeezed me round the waist. He pressed his hips into my arse and whispered,

"You find me caring for animals hot, I find you caring for kids hot." I flushed and looked back at him.

"That's both sweet and entirely inappropriate at the same time." He grinned unashamed and took his hat off his head, placing it on Hugh's as he let go of me and took his place on Hugh's other side.

"Can't be a cowboy without a proper hat." He said and we set off down towards town together, Hugh chattering between us.

~.oOo.~

"I'm gonna come and live on this island when I'm older!" Hugh declared as Celia handed him his little rucksack and shouldered her own. "And I'm gonna work on your farm Chelsea!"

"I could sure use the help sometimes." I smiled at him, ruffling his hair. The Wednesday evening boat had just docked and Vaughn and I were seeing the two off.

"We'll have to stay for longer next time." Hugh cried. "That way I can plant somethin' and grow it all on my own!"

"I'll save a special patch on my field for you then." I winked at Celia and she smiled at me.

"Come on now, Hugh." She said, "We gotta catch the boat before it leaves without us." Hugh ran ahead along the dock and jumped over onto the deck of the boat and Celia rolled her eyes adoringly. "Thank you so much for having us Vaughn, Chelsea." She nodded to us. "It really made his year I think. We don't often get holidays."

"It was nothing." I waved off. "You two are good company and Hugh's easy as pie." She smiled again and the boat blew its horn.

"I'll see you Friday." She said to Vaughn, then hurried towards the boat. The sailors did their usual skipping around, untying it and yelling at each other and then they cast off into the ocean.

Hugh stood on the deck waving his arm off and I smiled and waved back as Vaughn stood quiet next to me. Once they disappeared over the horizon, I dropped my arm and turned to leave with him.

"It was so nice to have him over on Halloween." I said conversationally, tangling my fingers with Vaughn's between us.

"Cass is a good kid." He agreed. I paused and looked at him. _Did he just say…?_

He noticed his verbal slip a second after he said it and a pinched look came over his face. He raised a shaky hand to his temples and rubbed them with his second finger and thumb.

" _Shit_." He whispered.

"Vaughn?" I asked gently. "You okay?" He still didn't look at me but I saw his jaw tighten.

"This is why I'm better off not _talkin'_ to people." He said angrily. "I was perfectly fine doin' things my own way until you came along and started tellin' me to talk to people and interact. I'd never have even known about the kid's existence if you'd never told me to talk to Celia." He pulled his hand out of mine. "You've changed me." I recoiled from him as if slapped.

"That's not fair and you know it." I hissed. "You _know_ I never aimed to change you; you told me yourself that you liked who you were around me; that it was a good difference I'd inspired."

"Yeah well maybe you didn't _aim_ to change anything, but you fuckin' did, didn't ya?" He started stalking away from the beach and I followed him, frowning hard.

"Look, I get it if having Hugh around has brought back bad memories, but that's no excuse -"

"You _get_ it, huh?" He growled, moving to a standstill outside Mirabelle's.

"As much as I can with the information you've given me!" I cried out, frustrated and not knowing where all this anger from him was coming from. He shook his head and scowled.

"I don't have the words nor patience to explain it to you. And even if I did, I don't think that I would." Okay, so _that_ hurt. I'd always tried to be as open as possible around him; letting him know that I cared enough to want to hear his story, but that I'd let him do it on his own time. I'd never pushed further than he was willing to go and hearing him say that despite all that he wouldn't want to tell me really fucking _hurt_.

"That was low, Vaughn." I told him quietly and he shrugged.

"Yeah well I'm a mean guy then, aren't I?" He asked rhetorically, then opened the front door to the shop. "Go back to the farm. I'm staying here tonight." And then I was left facing a swinging horseshoe on the outside of the front door.

 _What just happened?_

 **Chapter End.**

 **A/N: Drama! PS. I love Hugh, don't you just love Hugh?**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** **Trigger warning for anyone who's been in a car accident.**

 **Chapter 8.**

\- Chelsea -

When I walked into Mirabelle's store the next day to try to talk to Vaughn, I was greeted by a quiet Julia saying that he'd left on the morning boat out. I'd held myself together quite well last night considering I was confused as hell. I'd figured we just needed to sleep on it; cool our heads. We were both stubborn people and I knew it could have got worse if he hadn't left when he did, so I thought we'd see each other in the light of day and talk it through. Knowing that he'd purposefully left without even saying goodbye though made something break inside me and suddenly I found myself crying into Julia's shoulder, trying to wail out an explanation between sobs but not managing to do much more than garble out noises.

The first week I was stubborn enough to stop myself from calling. It freaking _ached_ when Aras's egg hatched and I couldn't phone Vaughn up to talk about it and ask what to do, but I made myself wait for his call. It wasn't that I necessarily thought he needed to apologise first or anything, but I thought that he'd made it pretty clear he didn't want to talk to me when he left without so much as a note, so if he wanted to talk now, _he_ could phone _me_. He didn't call though. I was so bummed, I almost named the chick something dumb like "Fluffy" but I bolstered myself, telling myself not to let one stupid fight ruin something like the birth and naming of a new member of my family. And so Peta was born and I deferred to quietly asking Mirabelle about what to do with a freshly born chick.

Vaughn didn't show on the Monday night boat, so I vowed to meet him on the Tuesday morning one. He didn't turn up on that one either and I figured he wasn't coming. I spent the next two days half-heartedly watering my crops and playing with the animals. I caved on Wednesday morning and phoned his home phone but it went straight to voicemail. I even tried his mobile a couple of times, but it must have been switched off or something because it didn't even ring. It got to Thursday evening and I couldn't bear to stay in my house for one more second. Everything I looked at – even Deimos – reminded me of Vaughn and I just didn't understand what land-mine I'd stepped on that had caused this explosion of angst in him, so I went to the one place where Vaughn was best understood – Mirabelle's.

I quietly traipsed in and suffered through the concerned looks Mirabelle had been sending me every time she saw me since Vaughn left. Julia bustled off to the kitchen to make me a hot chocolate and told me to go make myself comfortable in the living room.

"You just missed him, dear." Mirabelle said, coming in and sitting next to me as I stared at the news channel on screen. Wait. _What_?

"I just missed him?" I asked, turning to her. "I thought he didn't come this week?" Mirabelle looked saddened by my words and I guess she'd been hoping I was avoiding him rather than the other way around. She shook her head.

"He had to cover for someone at work on Tuesday, so he came in Wednesday morning. He just left on the evening boat."

Anger and then despair ripped through me simultaneously. _Why hadn't he stopped by_?

"Why -" I started before mentally shaking myself. _Get a grip Chelsea_. More had happened in Vaughn's life than I knew, if it affected him so deeply it was something that was far greater than what I could imagine and that meant that I had to be there for him rather than run off and mope just because he wasn't talking to me…or picking up my calls…or coming to see me…I sighed and turned my attention back to the telly. The weather was playing and I watched half-interested as I noticed the extreme temperature drop we were expecting this coming week. The map was the same that showed in the city; so our tiny island was barely on it, and I watched as a storm swept over the sea between us and the mainland currently.

 _At least it's not hit us here_. I thought glumly. With Vaughn merrily sitting on a boat back to the city and not talking to me I'm not sure how I would have reacted to a storm.

 _Hold up_. The storm was raging over the ocean. _The ocean where boats sail_. Oh God.

Without another word to Mirabelle I took off like a shot from the house; speeding past Julia holding two steaming mugs on my way.

"Chelsea?" She called, but I ignored her, panic clawing at my throat. Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God. What if he'd reached that part where there wasn't any land around for miles and the storm broke up his boat and there wasn't a place for him to be ship-wrecked on? What if he was one of the ones that got buried beneath the sand under a boulder? What if –

"Chelsea?" A hand grabbed my arm as I blindly turned onto my farm. I spun on the spot and saw a concerned Mark looking at me. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Storm – Vaughn – he's on the boat." I wasn't panting but I couldn't get my words out past my tongue to make them make sense. He seemed to understand them somehow because he gently gripped my shoulders.

"Chelsea. He'll be fine. The boat left two hours ago, they'll nearly be in the port by now. If there's a storm out there, he'll have missed it by miles." I took some deep breaths and nodded, looking into Mark's green eyes and trying to draw strength from them.

"I still need to phone him." I said and Mark let go, holding his hands up and backing away.

"Of course. He'll be fine, though."

"Sure." I agreed just to get away – and didn't that seem familiar? – and left for my farm at a slightly more sedate pace. I got into the house and grabbed up Deimos – who now allowed me to rub his belly, pick him up, and give him cuddles – before moving over to my armchair next to the phone. "Pick up, pick up, pick up." I chanted as I phoned Vaughn's mobile. At least it was ringing this time – if he'd been on the island earlier then there wouldn't have been signal, I realised. It rang through to voicemail and I hung up before dialling again. "Pick up, pick up, _pick up_." I urged.

"What, Chels?" His annoyed voice answered, backed by noises of the city and I – without knowing I was going to do it before I did – burst into tears. I clutched Deimos to me, burying my face into his fur.

"Oh, thank God." I sobbed. "You're alright." I heard a pause, then a sigh.

"What's that brain of yours thought up this time?" He asked softly and I sobbed harder.

"There was a storm on the weather report." I got out between deep breaths. "Mirabelle told me you'd just left. I hadn't even checked the time so I didn't know if you were still out there or not." I'd stopped checking the time regularly once I'd decided he wasn't coming to the island that week. "I didn't even realise you were here. You didn't come on Monday or Tuesday so I thought you weren't coming this week." It probably sounded slightly accusatory, but I think he deserved a little bit of grilling, to be honest.

"I'm fine." He replied, avoiding the elephant in the room. "How are you holdin' up? It didn't hit the island, did it?

"No." I sniffed. Feeling sort of empty now that he'd so obviously side-stepped explaining why he'd not spoken to me in over a week. "I…had a small blip. But it wasn't as bad as last time. The storm didn't hit us, I just saw it on Mirabelle's telly and panicked for you a bit. I bumped into Mark on my way home to phone you and he calmed me down."

"Mark, huh?" He grouched and exhaustion settled in to my bones.

"Oh please don't, Vaughn." I pleaded. "You know everything there is to know about that situation. It's been a month and he's been nothing but friendly. Besides, he's been hanging out with Alisa a lot recently. Making goo-goo eyes like Julia and Elliot do. So _please_ don't start with him." I sighed. Why was I even explaining myself to him if he wasn't going to return the favour? "Besides, you left." I added softly. "Without me even knowing you'd come, you left. You don't get to have an issue with who comforts me when you decide that that person isn't going to be you."

There was a silence that stretched on for a long while and I let out a sigh which turned into a sob. Was this how it was going to be? I thought we'd just had a spat, I thought we'd be able to sort it out. I thought he needed space, needed support, needed to know I was there for him and that if he ever needed to get away from me for a bit to sort things out in his head, he could. All I was asking for in return was for him to _tell_ me that he needed some space, but instead he was avoiding me and now – quite literally – giving me the silent treatment.

"Right." I said quietly. "Now I know you're okay, I guess I'll go. Bye, cowboy." And I pushed the hook, leaving the receiver on the table so he couldn't call back if he wanted to.

~.oOo.~

\- Vaughn -

"Fuck." I cursed and hit redial. The call wouldn't go through and Chels's old rotary dial phone didn't have a voicemail system. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." I repeated, throwing my cell and hat on the couch as I walked into my apartment and collapsed onto it, head in hands.

What the fuck had I done? What the _fuck_ had I done? Things had been going so well and then I'd called Hugh Cass by mistake and things had spiralled. Any pent up feelings about Cass's death had exploded out of me; directed towards Chelsea and I'd spent the night feeling so damn guilty about it all that I'd tried to sneak out the house _twice_ to go to her farm and apologise, but I'd been caught both times. The first time had been Julia telling me that I didn't deserve the chance to explain right now and that feeling guilty was my punishment for being a dick. Why both Chelsea and I had to suffer when I was willing to apologise, I didn't know, but I'd gone back to my room for long enough that she thought I'd given up. Then I'd climbed out my window and snuck round the side of the house when Aunt Bella caught me as she was locking up the supply shed for the night. She'd taken me back inside and sat me down at the kitchen table.

"She didn't deserve your anger." She'd told me and I'd rolled my eyes in annoyance. I _knew_ that. That was what I'd been trying to go and _tell_ her. I then got an hour's lecture on how to and not to treat people – one of those really annoying ones parents love to give that no matter how many times you interrupt with; "Yeah I _know_ that" they don't believe you and instead repeat the point as if it needs extra cementing. When she'd deemed me chastised and headed off to bed, I'd stood up thinkin' _third time's a charm_ and then the phone had rang. Not my cell because that never fuckin' worked on the island, but the shop's phone. At midnight. We were too far off the radar to get any spam calls out here, and only a couple of people had the store's number. My work for one, Chelsea, Elliot, Gannon and…the city hospital.

"Hello?" I'd picked up, greeting more politely than I used to because of my practice with Chelsea.

"Hello, this is Esterville County Hospital, can I speak to a Mister Vaughn Whitley please?"

"Speaking." I'd replied, heart in my throat.

"Mr. Whitley. I'm phoning in regards to some new information on your mother's condition." And that's where Chelsea had flown from my mind and I'd waited up on the beach until the first boat back to the city and left.

~.oOo.~

\- Chelsea -

I left the phone line busy from that night on. Vaughn had taken his space from me and now I needed mine. In my mind we hadn't broken up – we were just in a really freaking weird place that couldn't be sorted over the phone. If he had managed to make it to the island last week – even without my knowing it – then I was sure he'd be back the next, and we could talk then. Instead I threw myself into my farm. That's one of the benefits of owning your farm and only having you to work on it – there was always something to do. The weather had dipped overnight on Sunday night and a fair amount of my crops had suffered for it. My aubergines were struggling in the cold, as were my carrots in the cold soil – though I couldn't tell for sure without uprooting a few. The oats were the only thing that were still coping well…only I didn't have Vaughn here to feed them to. Mara had been acting weirdly – more so than usual – and I'd asked Mirabelle to have a look at her over the weekend. She'd come down with the sheep's equivalent of a winter bug – even though it was still autumn – and I couldn't bring myself to feel entirely sympathetic.

"That's what you get for putting up such a fuss about eating." I'd huffed at her and she'd bleated balefully back at me. I'd been religiously giving her her medicine though – squirting it directly down her throat seeing as she would never be caught dead eating medicated food in my presence and I had to make sure she took it.

Peta was a happy ball of fluff, and walking into the chicken coop was like a breath of fresh air when compared to the sombre mood of the barn. I felt sorry for Gwen and once this whole thing with Vaughn was sorted, I vowed to get her a better companion than Lola and Mara.

I'd taken up mining for income after the financial hit I took from losing my crops – ironic now that Regis was long gone. The shipping prices were a bit lower without Regis's connections but still more than I'd made by fishing. I also felt a bit guilty for fishing as much as I did after Shea told me all those months ago that he and Wada only ever hunted when they needed to. I knew there were plenty of fish in the sea, but I didn't want to take food from their mouths.

It was Monday afternoon and I was in the mines, whacking away at rocks and rummaging through them to find shards of any semi-precious stone I could find. I had developed a pretty good system for finding pot holes – reaching out with my hoe and plunging the handle into the ground in front of me. If I got a painful ricochet up my arm, then it was safe, if it went through then I gave the spot a wide berth. It worked really well…until it didn't. I plunged the handle on the seventh floor and didn't get away from it fast enough. Maybe I'd been getting tired and had thrown too much force into the thrust, but in any case it started a chain reaction and the ground started crumbling through the hole from where my hoe was out towards where I was stood. It was over before I could blink and suddenly I was staring up at the hole from god knows how many floors below. Christ it had grown tiny. And dark. I shook myself off and tested all my limbs. Somehow they were still in working order – so I got up and explored the floor I was on. It was deeper than I'd been before and the rocks looked coarser. Rotating my shoulder a couple of times in its socket, I decided _what the hell_ and swung my hammer down a few times.

 _Pink diamonds_. I stared. They were the most precious stone I'd found yet and I scrambled to collect them. If I got enough I'd be set for the rest of the _season_. I'd been saving up for another house upgrade and a second bed I could push in next to mine, but if I got enough of these babies I could get all that _and_ a greenhouse. I could get Gwen some friendlier company! I hurriedly started smashing more rocks until the entire floor was done and my pockets were heavy with diamonds. I contemplated going down another floor, but a dizzy wave to my head put that idea out my mind pretty sharpish.

Looking around in the dimming light I saw the stairs up to the next floor, so I walked up them and started clearing the soil from above my head until I could hoist myself up a floor. The hole I'd fallen through didn't look much larger from here. Sighing, I resigned myself to a slow and painful ascent. It would be worth it though, once I shipped off my bounty.

 _Two hours_ later and I was back on the seventh floor, absolutely exhausted. _Seven more floors_ , I told myself, _you can do this_.

 _But then there's the walk back to the farm_. I thought and groaned.

 _Deal with that once you're out the mine_. And so I picked myself back up and walked up the flights of stairs I'd already exposed. I got to the path leading down from the mine when another dizzy spell hit me.

People always say when they get dizzy that they think something like "Oh, I'll just sit for a while", but this hit me so hard that my thoughts got jumbled enough I couldn't string together a single coherent one. Instead I just stumbled and shut my eyes.

~.oOo.~

"We've got to stop meetin' like this, cowgirl." I heard from above me. _Vaughn_. I managed to decipher, but where I was, why I was there or why he was with me I couldn't fathom. "Up we get then." He said and I felt my body move. Presumably he'd picked me up as I was swaying in the air and it was making me feel _really freaking sick_.

"Vaughn." I tried to warn, but before I could say anything else, saliva flooded my mouth and vomit bubbled up my throat with a force I couldn't fight. I still couldn't open my eyes for the life of me and I felt warmth flood me and run down my hair and arms as I threw up over myself. "Shit." I gurgled and another wave hit me as I suddenly stopped moving.

"Chels." Vaughn called and I rolled my head on my neck towards it but I _couldn't open my eyes_. "Chelsea can you hear me?"

"Uh." I affirmed and coughed, dribbling out whatever it was I'd coughed up.

"Christ, I've not seen someone this bad since I had to call an ambulance for some drunkard on the street." He cussed and I tried to laugh but a slicing pain suddenly pierced right through my skull and I groaned instead. "Yeah you can hear me." He snorted and started moving again. "We're almost at the bridge into town, don't worry." I groaned again. I had no idea why I was _out_ of town or what I must look like, but I knew I had vomit over me and I didn't want people to see me. "It's dark and no one's out." He assured me and I'd have to take his word for it because then I was throwing up again, only this time the headache spiked with every stomach convulsion. I felt him pause, then heard a bang, and then I recognised the smell of my house over the stench of my sick. We moved around a bit and then I was being placed in something curved and cold, but my head was on a pillow. The contrasting sensations were too much and I felt a great swooping sensation in my head.

~.oOo.~

"…put her in here in case she threw up again, what's wrong with her doc?" I could hear the worry in Vaughn's voice and tried to open my eyes. Someone had moved all the lamps they could into the room so it was dimly lit. _I'm in my bathtub?_ I thought.

"Why don't we ask her?" A voice said kindly. _Irish_. My brain picked up on. _I love the Irish_.

"I love the Irish." I heard in a slurred voice before recognising it as mine. The voice chuckled. "I've seen Kodaline in concert _twice_."

"Yes, they're quite good, aren't they?" The voice hummed before I felt a hand on my face, directing it somewhere. "I'm Doctor Trent. Now open your eyes for me if you can please, Chelsea." I hadn't realised they were shut. I opened them heavily and met the gaze of a pale skinned, dark haired _hunk_.

"Irish men are always so good-lookin'." I slurred and Trent smiled, though a slight blush covered his cheeks.

"Thank you. Can you look into this light please, Chelsea?" He asked and I redirected my sluggish gaze to the little torch he was shining at me. It made my eyes throb, but not my head so it was bearable. "Her pupils are fine." He muttered, releasing me and laying my head back on my pillow gently. "What can you remember happening today, Chelsea?" He asked me and I was grateful he kept saying my name because I think I might have gone to sleep otherwise.

"Mining." I said and yawned. God I was so _tired_. "Fell down a hole. Had to climb up a couple hundred staircases." I heard an American swear and assumed Vaughn was still in the room. "Then I got outside and Vaughn woke me up. I didn't realise I'd gone to sleep."

"I think it's safe to say at this stage that you fainted." The Irishman said. He spoke again but his voice was faded so he must have been talking to Vaughn – _my eyes are shut again?_ "It's hard to say if it was a concussion or exhaustion seeing as both are so likely. But usually if someone is throwing up from a concussion we'd see other signs of it such as uneven pupils or some form of difficulty with remembering the event and answering questions. You say she could comprehend what you were saying when you found her?" A pause. "Then as much as the vomiting and drunken speech is disconcerting, I think she's just exhausted herself. Has something happened recently that could have caused this? Some monetary issue that meant she was pushing herself more than normal or some emotional upheaval that she was trying to distract herself from?" I was _so_ tired but I knew in my heart that Vaughn wouldn't take that line of questioning kindly.

"Crops died." I managed to mumble out. "Cold." I heard rustling and the doctor's voice got closer to me.

"Are _you_ cold, or did the crops die because of the cold weather?"

"Weather." I breathed out on a sigh. "Tired." There was a long pause as the doc seemed to think and then he ventured,

"Well, I think it would be nice if you could stay awake, Chelsea, at least long enough to have a bath and get the grime off you. If you could drink a few glasses of water to get your fluids back up, that would be great too."

"T'would be _great_ yeah." I grouched. "But m' _tired_." I tried to lift my arm to rub my face, but it was so heavy I could only lift it a little bit before it thudded down. And then suddenly I was crying and feeling freaking _terrified_. "Vaughn." I whimpered and there was more rustling and shadow changes from outside my shut eyelids. "M'scared. Vaughn." I repeated and then I was shivering, limbs trembling in great uncontrollable spasms.

"Shhh, darlin'." I heard and a hand stroked my hair away from my face. "You've done a number on yourself, you need to take it easy."

"Can't." I replied. "Too much to do. Got animals and crops. Gotta mine. Can't take fish from Shea."

"A wise girl once told me that I shouldn't push my limits. I think that wise girl's gone and done it herself now." He sighed. "What were you doing running around the mines so close to night-time?"

"Got diamonds. Pink diamonds." I justified. "l'have lots of money soon. Stay with me. Don't leave. M'so scared Vaughn. Why did you go?" If I'd been coherent enough to notice, I'd have realised that sobbing on the guy about why he left when he just saved my unconscious self from a hard night out on the mountain choking on my own vomit was pretty harsh. But as it was, I just felt panic in my chest and fear in my bones and I needed him to tell me we were okay and that he wasn't going to leave again and ignore me for the better part of two weeks.

"I'm not goin' anywhere, cowgirl." I heard him say and felt his lips on my forehead. "I'll explain it all to you later, but I think we need to get you all cleaned up first." I nodded and he turned away for a few seconds. "So, water and bed rest basically?" He asked and there was a short silence where the doctor presumably nodded. "Alright. I'll get on that. Thanks, doc and sorry for wakin' you up."

"Oh it's no trouble. It's my job." I heard more rustling and the slam of my front door shutting and then it was just Vaughn and I.

"Let's get ya sittin' up." He said, sliding a hand down my back and helping me slowly sit so he could pull the pillow out from behind me.

"M'sorry." I mumbled, starting to move out of my clothes as best I could, trying to help.

"Let me." He said softly, manoeuvring my arms for me through arm holes and my head through the neck hole as my movements were too sluggish to help much of anything. "I know you, Chels. I get you." He continued as he untied my bandana then reached down to unzip my shorts. "You get so lost inside your head; so focussed on something that you neglect yourself." He lifted me with a strong arm around my waist and used his other hand to push down my shorts and underwear in one go. "If the crops are suffering then I get why you'd go mining. If you found pink diamonds then I get why you'd stop to collect them. I _get_ it, but I don't _like_ it." He slid my shorts and knickers down to my ankles where he paused to pull off my boots and socks before sliding them off the whole way. I sat there shivering violently still. "And I like it even less that I was part of the reason why you've been so careless with yourself. I get pretty lost inside my head as well sometimes and I took it out on you instead of leaning on you like you do on me." He rummaged behind me and I heard the plug go in and the taps start running before warm water started filling around me. "You've got the right of it with coping mechanisms. But I bottle it up until somethin' happens which makes me explode. Thinkin' of Cass brought back too much and I took it out on you. I was a shit to leave you without an explanation, then not come find you when I was on the island and then not have the guts to give you one on the phone." He swished the water around me, splashing it over my legs and body to try to calm my shaking. "Let's turn you round so you can lie back." He murmured, tucking my legs up for me and rotating me on the spot before unfolding me again. "I was the one in the wrong and I don't want you apologisin' to me okay? _I'm_ sorry. And I'm the only one here who should be." He lay me back gently, supporting my head on his hand as he grabbed a flannel and started cleaning me up softly.

"M'still sorry for throwin' up on you." I mumbled out, feeling warmer, calmer and more secure. My brain was slowly clearing as time went on and I thought with some water down me I might even feel halfway normal before going to bed.

"Darlin', that was all on you." He chuckled. "The worst I got was a bit on my sleeve and some smeared on my vest."

"Where's Deimos?" I asked suddenly.

"He's lyin' in the hall stropping with me for not lettin' him in here." Vaughn replied. "You want to see him?" I nodded, so Vaughn helped me sit back up. "We still need to do your hair." He said. "So sit tight. I'll be right back." He left and then came back some seconds later with Deimos in his arms.

"Hey honey." I greeted, lifting an arm – with almost complete ease – to reach out and stroke him wetly on the head. "Mummy's alright. She just got a bit silly today." I felt Vaughn tense and I rolled my eyes up heavily to meet his gaze – my head still felt too heavy for my body, even though it was getting lighter.

"Ma used to say the same to me sometimes." He muttered. "Shall we do your hair now, hun?" He said, bending down to put Deimos back on the ground and crouching next to the tub again. I was still looking at him questioningly and he sighed. "It's all part of my explanation for leavin', don't worry." He said, then reached over to grab my shampoo, squirting some in his hands and rubbing it in my hair. "Look at that water, Chels!" He exclaimed softly and I peered down at the murky goop I was sitting in. Christ. It was mostly grey from dust and rocks and I could feel grit underneath me, but every now and then I'd see a bobbing piece of food float by that Vaughn was dislodging from my hair. He rinsed his hands and pulled the plug. "I think we're gonna have to refill it." He said, scooping out some of the bigger rocks and pieces of food and wrapping them in some loo roll before setting them aside. "You're as grimy as Deimos was when we washed him. You remember doin' that?" He asked and I nodded, reminiscing back to the day when Vaughn had drugged Deimos up, sorted out his dew claw and then we'd brought him back and bathed him in a shallow lukewarm pool of water. He'd shook so hard that his bum was constantly hovering near the ground – hind legs too weak to hold him up and tail tucked between them. The clean water started filling up around me and I peered around the room to see Deimos sitting in the doorway giving the bath a baleful stare.

"Why're all my animals so angry?" I asked, slur almost completely gone now. Vaughn looked up and saw where I was looking before laughing.

"Must be somethin' in the water." He said. I sighed and lay myself back in the water this time.

"At least Peta came out happy." I smiled. There was a pause.

"Peta?" He asked and it hit me again how he'd been gone from my life for 12 days.

"Aras's chick." I explained and he let out a soft 'oh' before busying himself with rinsing my hair out. We were silent as he scooped cupfuls of water over my head, hesitant to use the shower in case the pressure gave me a headache. When he was done washing me, he pulled the plug and gently squeezed the excess water from my hair.

"D'you think you can stand alright or d'you need me to lift you?" He asked. I looked up to see a hand hovering in my line of view and noticed for the first time tonight that he was topless.

"I think I can stand." I said, grasping onto his held out hand for support anyway. Once I was up and swaying slightly on my feet, he wrapped me up in a towel before lifting me bridal style and carrying me to my room. He put me on my bed and rummaged around through my unmade sheets for my pyjamas. Christ this boy knew me too well. Once he'd found them, he grabbed a pair of knickers from my underwear drawer – and seeing how rarely I wore them to bed when he was around, I was surprised he knew I preferred them under my pyjama bottoms – and set about dressing me. I could help more this time and managed to wrap my hair up in the discarded towel as he clothed my lower half. I was almost awake again by now; physically aching and my throat felt raw, but mentally I was up and aware as I ever was.

"I'll go get you some water." He said, and pressed another kiss to my forehead.

"And some gum?" I asked, hopefully. I wanted to kiss him properly. I hadn't seen him in _twelve days_.

"Not on an empty stomach." He denied as he moved through my house like it was his own. I heard some doors banging and the running of the showerhead in my bathroom. I guess he'd put our clothes in the wash and rinsed the bath down. He came back with a glass of water in each hand and a toothpaste covered tooth brush held horizontally in his mouth. His teeth were bared as he carried it through, trying not to get paste on his cheek and I just looked at him and thought _I love you_. Suddenly the reason he left me for almost two weeks held no importance at all in my mind, and yet at the same time if became the most important thing of all. He put one glass down and held the other out to me, taking the brush from between his teeth and putting it in my other hand. "Drain that first." He pointed to the glass and I obediently slugged the whole drink before popping the toothbrush in my mouth and scrubbing my teeth thoroughly, spitting into the empty glass and returning to scrub my tongue. I took a sip from the second glass, swished and spit, then drained it at well. _Damn_ I was thirsty. Vaughn took the glasses and moved to go refill them from the kitchen but I grabbed him by the wrist before he could.

"Hold your horses, cowboy." I said, tugging him hard enough that he was forced to kneel on the bed in front of me. I changed my grip to his neck and pulled him in to kiss him. The moment our lips met it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders and I slumped, running my tongue across his lips until they opened for me and then licking my way into his mouth. I pulled back and pecked his mouth lightly. "Please don't leave me again." I whispered against his mouth and he kissed me shortly.

"Let me get you some more water." He murmured. "Then I'll come back and explain the whole thing." He paused. "Unless you want to sleep first?" My body was crying out a resounding _yes!_ but I knew I couldn't sleep in good conscience until I had my explanation, so I shook my head. "Alright." He said, pecking my mouth again before pulling away and standing up. I heard the tap run a short while and then he was padding straight back in, hitting light switches with his elbows as he went. "Don't down these two." He warned as he set the glasses down on the bedside table. "We don't need you pissin' all over us tonight." He smirked and I glared at him.

"So you can go down on me and deal with my vomit on you, but can't handle some piss on your legs?" I asked and he laughed, taking off his jeans and climbing over me to take his position between me and the wall. The room went quiet and Deimos padded in to lie down in his bed that was at the foot of mine. Vaughn took a deep breath and reached up to untie his neckerchief. He traced the scar a few times and stared into the dark of my room.

"My ma's the reason I got this." He started. "And I got a call from the hospital she's been in ever since on Wednesday night two weeks ago. They told me there'd been a change in her condition. She's been in a coma since the crash and she died Wednesday night – or Thursday morning, I guess." He shrugged.

"Cass and I never knew our Dad. We never even knew if it was the same guy – our facial features were too young back then to see if we looked different enough to tell and my albinism meant we couldn't compare hair or eye colors. Ma was all we had and she…wasn't right in the head. I was too young to know what she had, but I knew she didn't take her pills for it. Sometimes I'd come home from school with Cass to find things all broken up in our apartment and she'd tell me she'd been silly that day, that she'd been naughty and not taken her pill. She was a single mom of two kids in a big city and I guess she struggled too much because she started going to these dodgy loan sharks to get by. She never could hold a job down for long with her mental state and she kept going back for more pills even though she never took them because she didn't want anyone to find out she wasn't on them. But that meant more expenditure we couldn't afford. The loan sharks started cracking down on us and I suppose she didn't see another way out. I guess havin' two kids had become too much a burden on her and she wanted out the situation the only way she could see…

She spent the night fiddling with our car and I remember it bein' weird because she never did anything with it if she could help it – it guzzled all our money in gas so it mostly sat around not being used, only existing for the purpose of being able to say we owned a car.

The next day she said we were takin' the day off school and goin' to the zoo. Cass was too young to get it so he was real excited, but I knew we couldn't afford that sort of shit, so I was wary when she strapped us into the car. She put Cass into the passenger seat and pulled me into the driver's seat with her, putting me behind the wheel. She said that today was gonna be a special day so neither of us could sit in the back. Then she pulled out onto the road, built up some speed, aimed for the nearest building and crashed us right into it." He paused and I reached over to take his hand.

"Cass died on impact they say. All that fiddlin' she'd been doing was removing the airbags. I'd gone straight into the steering wheel and my neck had hit it hard enough that it'd crushed my windpipe and I'd passed out. It was the middle of the day though, so people were already there pullin' us out the wreckage and calling ambulances, so I got stabilised in time. Ma went into a coma and has been sittin' in the hospital ever since, all but brain dead…until she was. Her brainwaves flatlined that Wednesday night and they turned off her life support. When she was first admitted I was taken into foster care seein' as I didn't have any other relatives and Mirabelle adopted me to live with her and Julia.

I didn't talk much after the surgery and then I guess I got into the habit. Ma's loans got written off as illegal and I don't know what happened to them. I figured they'd fall on me when I got old enough, but they never have. Instead I've been payin' hospital bills out my ass to keep her on life support. At least I'll get to actually keep all my income from now on, huh? I left the island ASAP after the phonecall and only came back to get my paycheque from Mirabelle for October. I don't know why I shut you out; I didn't have any affairs to sort out in the city past signing some papers and arranging a grave for her, but I just couldn't deal with interaction at that point and we'd just had a fight and it all seemed too hard to cope with at one time." He fell quiet and I rolled over to pull him into my chest and stroke his hair.

"God that's awful, Vaughn." I murmured. "You're right, you shouldn't have shut me out, especially not at such a horrible, lonely time, but I get why you did it." I smiled wryly. "'I get it but I don't like it.'" I quoted back at him. "How are you feeling about it all?" He sighed and nuzzled my neck.

"Is it bad to say I'm kind of relieved?" He asked and I shook my head. "I always worried that she'd wake up and we'd have to deal with the police – it was obvious to everyone that day that it wasn't an accident. Or I worried she'd be on that bed until the day I died; always hanging over me and remindin' me of what she did to us, what she did to _Cass_. I never saw his body, but death on impact normally means something through the brain or heart doesn't it?" His voice got thick and I felt wetness on my neck. "Probably meant that his little body was sat there with his brains exploded all over the inside of the car or some spike shoved through his chest." He started shaking and I pressed kisses to his head, not telling him to shush because I knew it was good that he got it out. "I had been suspicious from the start, I shouldn't have let her put us in the car -"

"Don't." I interrupted him. Those kinds of thoughts weren't worth vocalising. "You were a kid, Vaughn. She may have been sick in the head, but she was still your mother. You could never have in a million years guessed what she would do. Did you even know what airbags were back then?" He shook his head. "Exactly. Don't take the blame for her. I know you're not meant to speak ill of the dead, but all the responsibility for that day lies on her. She shouldn't have had kids if she wasn't going to look after herself well enough to look after you." I paused and stroked his hair. "Though for my sake I'm glad you were born and found your way to this island."

"I was so terrified when I saw you today." He breathed, wrapping his arms around me. "I came and knocked on your door and heard Deimos barking but you weren't in there to tell him to be quiet. So I decided to look around your land to see if you were out and about there but then I saw you come out the mine and collapse." I ran my hands through his hair soothingly. It seems we'd both been through the wars recently.

"I'm sorry for worrying you." I said quietly and he shook his head.

"Don't apologise. You're probably going to wake up tomorrow feelin' like you were hit by a freight train. I think that's punishment enough." I reached over and took a few more sips of water; all mental awareness slipping away from me now.

"I'm glad you came back." I mumbled as I unwrapped my hair from the towel. It was still damp, but it was good enough. I chucked the towel across the room somewhere and settled into my pillow. "I'm glad you were coming to talk to me."

"I can't stay away, Chels." He told me. "Not when I'm in my right state of mind at least."

"Thank you for not getting angry at me." I sighed, finding his lips with mine in the darkness.

"Thank you for not givin' up on me." He replied and I felt his fingers comb out some of the damp tangles in my hair as my mind shut down for the night.

 **Chapter End.**

 **A/N:** **Thoughts?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9.**

\- Chelsea -

That Monday night resulted in three things:

1\. I had Vaughn and we were back to normal, much to Mirabelle and Julia's relief.

2\. We shipped off all the gems I'd got from the mine the next day and my eyes had bugged at the number of zeroes on the resulting sum I'd received.

3\. Vaughn called in to work and told them what had happened with his mum – turns out I was the only person he'd told and he hadn't even mentioned it to Mirabelle or Julia when he stayed at theirs the previous week – and they gave him the rest of the week off. So I had him here on the island with me until the following Thursday night. This meant that I had him for the snow festival which happened a few days into his stay at the first heavy snowfall, and also for our three month anniversary.

Mara got over her cold suspiciously quickly once she realised Vaughn was hanging around to stay a bit. She and Lola still wouldn't eat in front of humans for anyone under force of death, but she seemed to have some weird sort of respect for Vaughn nonetheless. I wondered if it was because he'd been the one to birth her and care for her, but I was still a bit miffed that I'd spent an endless amount of time pouring medicine down her gullet and then the moment she sees Vaughn she's miraculously better. God that makes me sound awful, doesn't it? I was happy my sheep was better, but annoyed at where her loyalties lay.

Using the money I received from the diamonds, I hired Gannon to re-do the last two roads on the island. I also commissioned a greenhouse to be made and even managed to squeeze in a house upgrade and a double bed. The first time Vaughn saw the latter he'd flung himself onto it and sighed in bliss – something about his stupidly long limbs getting cramped in my old one.

The morning after the mine incident and Vaughn's explanation I'd woken up feeling like death warmed over. All my muscles ached in a way they'd not since I first started farming and my mouth just couldn't get wet – constantly feeling like it was made of sandpaper. It was one of those days when you really become aware of how grateful you are for the people you have around you – Vaughn took care of the animals for me and even stopped by Taro's to get Elliot to care for the few crops I still had. It was also one of those days where you berate yourself heavily for getting yourself into the mess because what would you have done if you'd not had anyone else around?

 _Probably died outside the mine, to be honest._

In any case, Vaughn was a star. I could tell he was equal parts feeling awkward that I now knew about his past and feeling so affectionate of me for staying after he ditched me for two weeks that he gave me a full body massage without me even telling him how much I ached. Conversation was slightly stilted because his feeling awkward made me feel like there was something to feel awkward about, but once he came back in from the barn telling me how Mara was doing so much better, my annoyance at the sheep took over and the rest of the day melted back into normality.

The Friday of his stay was the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of my crop-rearing. We had the first snow fall of our stay here and none of us were really knowing what to expect of it. I was thinking maybe some flakes would float down – the type you catch on your tongue because they're so light and slow – or equally that we'd have a massive blizzard and we'd all be snowed in for a week. Instead, it just absolutely freaking pelted it down for an entire day and night; covering the ground within minutes and decimating what chances I had of salvaging my last crops of autumn. We'd all decided – and by all, I mean Taro, Chen, Gannon and I; it seemed we'd become a sort of governing board for the island – that when we had our first proper snow fall the island's inhabitants would take the day off work and celebrate it together.

Of course, for a farmer, there's no such thing as a real day off and Vaughn and I spent the morning traipsing through the snow; him to the animals and me to try and pull up and cut down the last of my crops so that we wouldn't trip over any should the snow get deeper from now on. We then bundled up in even warmer clothes, shoved Deimos – who apparently _loved_ snow and had spent the morning literally prancing like a deer through piles of it – back inside and made our way to the meadow, Vaughn carrying my rucksack with a thermos of hot soup for us – ever since the mine incident he'd been treating me a little like I was glass and had switched into Extreme Gentleman mode with things like carrying my bag, holding open doors, pulling out chairs and what not. I normally found that sort of behaviour annoying and a bit condescending, but coming from Vaughn and in the wake of all the drama we'd just come through, it made my stomach flip and my face flush in pleasure as I internally squealed a bit about how caring my boyfriend was. Don't tell Mark.

We set about making our own snowman and I think we'd somehow silently agreed that we were going to make it the ugliest snowman the world had ever seen. That or we were crap at making them and had telepathically decided we were going to say that we'd meant it to come out that way. The final product really was something special; two sort of oblong shaped balls on top of one another; uneven sized eyes; a shrivelled aubergine for a nose and a tiny dead carrot from my crop digging that morning for a mouth. Needless to say he was the first to go down when Charlie started a snowball fight, by Vaughn's own hand if I'm not mistaken, and by the end of the festival we were all so wet and cold that we didn't hang about to drink our soup but chugged it on a brisk walk back to the farm. I'd run the bath and Vaughn had set out our things to dry and then we'd both been soaking in bubbles and warmth for over an hour until Deimos padded in and started whining for dinner.

The next day was bright and sunny, but cold enough that the snow didn't melt. Vaughn had had to beg off work for the day and went back to his room at Mirabelle's and I vowed to firstly buy the guy a pair of sunglasses because that hat did nothing when the sun glare was coming from beneath him, and ask Mirabelle where she got the blackout blinds from because I'd have to put some up in my room if winter was going to be so disorienting for Vaughn. It was also the first day that I'd not shipped any crops in a while and I noticed the hit in my finances, small though it was thanks to the leftover diamond income I still had. So over the next few days I made plans with Vaughn for him to bring back another cow – a _happy_ cow – when he went back to the city and also started prepping spring crop seeds in my greenhouse.

I think things were starting to fall back into place.

~.oOo.~

It was the day before our anniversary and two days before Vaughn was due to leave and we were woken up by a knock on the door early in the morning.

"The fuck is that?" Vaughn growled, grabbed his neckerchief and slunk out of bed to answer it. We'd taken to lying in in the mornings seeing as caring for the crops in the greenhouse was easier than in the field – in my humble opinion at least – and because I had Vaughn to do most of the animal work whilst I did so, though I still took the time to stroke and talk to them all every day. "What?" I heard Vaughn snap as he yanked open the front door and the cold air came whistling through the house to reach me. I sighed and crawled out of bed as well, wrapping my fuzziest dressing gown around me and finger combing my hair a bit as I went to diffuse the situation.

"Hi! Is there a Chelsea here?" A female voice asked, completely unfazed by Vaughn's attitude. I sighed with relief internally, knowing that it still confused Vaughn when someone managed to shake off his rudeness so quickly.

"Er, yeah." He mumbled and I could imagine him blushing now; all the wind out his sails. I came up behind him and ran a hand over his bare back. I didn't often get to see a lot of his skin in the sunlight and I was appreciating how the light made his pale skin almost glow like the snow. He looked down at me and smiled the smile that only I'm ever privileged to see. "I'm gonna go put some warmer wear on." He said quietly to me, "be back in a minute." then I titled my head for his customary peck on the lips and let him go. I turned to the woman in the doorway and felt my heart sink into my stomach.

"Tina!" I greeted with a forced smile. "What a surprise! What are you doing here?"

"Chelsea!" The redhead squealed and pounced on me. "I'm making a brochure for the island! A colleague of mine was taking photos in summer but he got fired, so now I'm here for the winter snaps and to complete the job." My head was spinning slightly – a combination of Tina's chatter and the early wake up call.

"Right." I said, sounding a tad shell-shocked. I'd never thought I'd see this girl again in my life and I would have preferred it that way. "So how long are you staying on the island for?" I asked, manners kicking in.

"Oh, just the season." She said, breezing past me and going to sit down at my kitchen table without so much as a how-do-you-do. _Just the season, she says._ I moaned to myself. _That's three more months!_ "So how come you're here? I saw you in the summer photos and just _had_ to get this project to see you, this is so weird! Such a small world! But I swear the last I heard from you, you'd up and fled the country! What happened? Was it your parents? Did they kick you out? Don't you think running away is a bit immature?" And this was one of many reasons why I had never got on well with Tina. She was too damn _invasive_. "You know, _everyone_ is gossiping about you back home! You should hear the things they're saying about you! It's horrible! Of course, _I_ would never join in on all that, but man the claws really came out once you were out the picture!" Oh, and she was also a massive shit-stirrer.

Vaughn chose that moment to walk back into the room and take note of my distressed expression.

"Everything alright?" He asked, coming to stand next to me and winding an arm around my waist for moral support. Tina's eyes fell on him and I saw the third reason I didn't like her appear before my eyes. She was a cuckoo when it came to other people's boyfriends.

"Well hello again!" She beamed hugely and I snuck a look at Vaughn's bewildered expression. Strangers weren't usually so friendly to him, especially after the sort of greeting he gave Tina. "Who are you?"

"Vaughn." He grunted.

"Oh like Robert Vaughn from The Magnificent Seven?" She asked and Vaughn looked surprised.

"Yeah, that was my ma's favourite movie. Lee was her favourite character." He replied.

"He's such a complicated soul." Tina nodded and I felt lost. I'd never seen nor heard of The Magnificent Seven. Vaughn's arm left my waist as he went to sit down at the table opposite her and start talking – freely talking – about this movie.

"I'll just…make some breakfast then, shall I?" I asked quietly. Vaughn didn't seem to hear me but Tina sent me a thousand-watt smile.

"That would be _brilliant_ , Chelsea, thanks." I fake smiled back and moved over to the kitchen. Bloody hell, this was going to be a bump in the road.

~.oOo.~

Tina left after two hours and I had already finished the washing up by the time Vaughn was waving her off from the front door. _Don't be mad, don't be mad, don't be mad_. I told myself. Vaughn hadn't spent a whole lot of the time she was here talking – Tina had a tendency to talk about herself _a lot_ – but he'd spoken more than I'd seen him speak with anyone else other than Mirabelle, Julia and I. The silence in the kitchen felt welcomed but bizarre after two hours of non-stop buzz. I was standing at the kitchen window, watching her bright figure walk down the path when she turned at the end of it and blew me a kiss through the window. I dropped the plate I was drying up I shook so hard.

"Chels!" Vaughn exclaimed as he moved over to me quickly. "You alright?"

"I hate her." I whispered, my hands forming angry fists and throwing the dish towel I'd been drying up with away.

"What?" Vaughn asked, still hovering over me worriedly.

"I _hate_ her!" I repeated, far louder this time. Vaughn flinched back a bit, shocked. "She's one of the girls from back home whom I could not stand and there you were for two hours making nice with her!" _Well there goes my resolve_. Vaughn frowned at me, annoyed.

"You're the one that's always wantin' me to be nice to people. I'd rather have thrown her out the moment she woke us up, but that would've upset ya so I didn't. And she seemed pretty nice to me so I don't know why you're bein' so hateful." He frowned deeper. "It's not like you, Chels."

"I'm being so _hateful_ because she's a hateful person, Vaughn!" I cried, waving my hands in the air in frustration. There wasn't one thing or event that I could describe to him to get him to understand, no one _trait_ of hers…it was just the fact that I'd known her for nine years and all the little things added up to make this picture of _her_ who is just a _vulture_.

"Come on, Chels! She was just makin' conversation!" Vaughn was saying, moving away from me in a frustrated stride.

"And since when was that something you _appreciate_?" I snapped back, trying to use the pause that followed to calm myself down. Angry tears built up behind my closed eyelids and I brought up equally angry fists to rub at them.

"Hey." Vaughn said, moving close to me again and taking my fists in his palms. "Chelsea." He called and I exhaled heavily before opening my eyes and looking at him. "I thought talkin' to her would be the right thing to do?" He said, voice tilting up at the end and making it sound like a question. I slumped forward towards him.

"It would be normally." I agreed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap so badly. You've not done anything wrong." I wrapped my arms around his waist and his went around my shoulders. "It's just…I can't _stand_ her." He led me over to the sofa in the living room and pushed me down onto it, patting Deimos reassuringly. He'd scarpered over here when he'd heard our shouting and I patted him too, feeling guilty.

"Alright. Explain." He said, pulling away and holding my hands once we'd sat.

"She just…" I trailed off. "It's hard to explain. I've known her for _years_ , ever since we started secondary school and it's just…you had to be there for a lot of it. Most of it sounds really petty in retrospect but it was just so _annoying_ at the time." I huffed, irritated. "She's a really invasive person." I started with. "She always just walks in and overstays her welcome. She'd stay hours after parties had ended, thinking it was fine when really the hosts just wanted to get to bed but couldn't until her mum picked her up. She'd self-invite herself to things and then would come and make jokes about things in people's lives that really shouldn't be made into jokes. She'd gossip constantly and always want to know what rumours were floating around at the time and she caused _so_ many fights, but never got the blame because she was always playing Switzerland so well. She'd be really sympathetic for when you needed to talk about something; always welcome you with open arms if you were upset; but then it'd be all over the school the next day and she'd always manage to make you think it wasn't her who spread it despite it not being possible for it to have been anyone else. Then she would do the things that cuckoos do."

"Cuckoos?" Vaughn asked, stroking one hand with his thumb as my other had detached from his to wave angrily in the air as I spoke.

"Yeah. You know the thing they do – lay their eggs in another bird's nest? She'd do that, but with people's boyfriends. It's like she has this kink that means she's only ever attracted to taken men or something. She'd see a boyfriend of a friend that she liked and be all nice and friendly; find things in common with him; then start sowing tiny seeds of 'Oh she does that? _I_ would never do that! That must be so hard for you' and 'well it's a common fact that she's slept with more men than she can count…oh, you didn't know that? I'm so sorry! Forget I said anything!'. Eventually they'd fight so hard with their girlfriend and become so smitten with her that they'd split. She'd swoop in; lay her eggs; wait for the couple to nurture them until they hatch and then leave them with the damage control. Only, she'd date them a little while and then dump them first. I haven't seen her in years. I thought I was finally _done_ with her."

"Well you just gotta trust me, cowgirl." He said when I was done, landing a kiss on my head. "Just cos some floozy's chuckin' herself at me, don't mean I'm gonna take her up on her offer."

"I know, I know." I sighed, rubbing my temples heavily with my free hand. "It's not that I don't trust you, Vaughn. Really. I can't explain it – it's just, I've seen _so many_ guys break up with their girlfriends because of her. I don't want that to be you; I don't want that to be _us_ ; and I don't want to be the ex that would inevitably take you back because I want to be with you so badly that I'd overlook any misstep in judgement you may have had."

"It's not gonna happen." He said firmly and I let his words reassure me. "'Sides, the island's gettin' pretty busy now. You can avoid her easily enough and she'll have plenty of things to be doing for that brochure. I don't think the farmer and her animal dealer will be needin' a lot of coverage." I smiled and squeezed his hand.

"Thanks, Partner." I replied, moving over to snuggle into his side. I felt ready for bed again and we'd not even left the house yet.

"It's alright." He replied. "Just warn me next time one of your creepy London friends arrive, okay?" I grinned sheepishly.

"I was too distracted by your torso in the sunlight." I admitted, blushing as I did so. "I didn't even look to see who it was 'til you were out the room." He blushed lightly too but smiled smugly nonetheless.

"And she was sittin' in your shadow the entire time she was in here." He responded in kind. Deimos jumped on the sofa and yipped at us. "Yours, too Deimos." He added and I laughed. Vaughn was such a softy really, and though I felt selfish for doing so, I'd stop anyone from seeing that side of him if I could. Well. Any single, eligible bachelorettes that is.

~.oOo.~

\- Vaughn -

The day after Tina showed up was mine and Chels's three month anniversary and I was determined not to let the black cloud of worry that had descended around Chelsea's head ruin it. We'd not been together for any of our other ones and therefore hadn't paid a whole lot of attention to them, but seeing as I was here, I wanted to make an effort. I think she'd had the same idea as we'd both set separate alarms – mine on my cell, her on her watch – to wake us up, thinking we'd be earlier than each other. Turns out not so much. We both woke up at 6AM – normal alarm set for 8AM – and blinked at one another.

"Go back to sleep." I grouched, frowning. Chelsea frowned back.

" _You_ go back to sleep."

"I _can't_." I insisted. "I have plans." Chelsea got her normal stubborn look in her eye and I sighed mentally.

"Well so do I."

We looked at each other for a few seconds, then both of us moved simultaneously, rushing to get out of bed first and out the room. Her bedroom didn't have a lock or anythin', so it wouldn't have made much difference, but it was the competitive spirit that ran deep in both of us that made us race.

I won.

I pulled the door shut behind me heavily and dashed into the kitchen, laughing as I heard her annoyed screech muffled by her bedroom door. I quickly set some eggs to boil in a pan and prepped her toaster with bread, laying the table with the contents of the tray I'd prepared the night before after she'd gone to bed. I'd been meaning to bring her breakfast in bed this morning, but the hyacinth and package worked just as well sitting on the table in her place as they did sitting on the tray.

Chelsea had gone quiet and I peered around nervously, not knowing whether I should prepare for a lovely surprise or a vengeful attack. I _didn't_ expect her to come twirling out her room in the dress I'd given her months ago – all traces of mud and blood gone – her hair up in this style that must have stayed up due to her sheer luminosity rather than any form of physics that made sense; twirly bits floating down around her face. She'd even put on some makeup – just some eye stuff that made her lashes longer and rimmed her eyes to bring out the brilliant blue that they were. I half dropped the plate of eggy soldiers into the place I'd set for her; feeling like I'd been sucker punched in the stomach.

 _How is it possible that she looks even better than the first time I saw her in it?_

"Looks like we're both wearing each other's favourite outfit." She grinned as she breezed past me and started bustling about with the pot I'd just washed up. The scent of porridge reached my nose and I looked down at myself to see what she was talking about. I was stood there in my purple boxers and nothing else. _Oh_. I laughed then and watched her set my place on the table with items she'd hidden away in a cupboard. Pale blue forget-me-not's joined her white hyacinth in the vase and a thick envelope got put in front of my spoon and jar of honey.

We both sat down for breakfast – me still bare in my boxers – and chatted about our plan for the day. Chels wanted to head out and make a proper day of it which sounded fun but also crazy on account of how cold it was outside. And the fact she was in a dress. I didn't kick up a fuss though, and just reminded myself to wear an extra couple of layers when I got dressed.

Once we were done with our food, we exchanged presents.

"It's more symbolic than practical." Chels was saying nervously as I went to open the envelope. I tore open the slit and upturned the contents in my hand. A large, heavy key fell out into my palm and I looked to Chels for an explanation. "It's a copy of the key to this place." She said, fiddling with her hair anxiously. "I never bother locking it, so it's not really useful, but I just want you to know that I view this place as yours as well as mine by this point. And I want you to have undisclosed access to the place."

"Chels, it's brilliant." I said, reaching over and laying a hand on hers to stop her fiddlin'. "Thank you, I promise I won't abuse the access." I winked. She turned to my package and it was my turn to feel nervous. "It feels a bit arrogant, but I thought it might help a bit for when I'm away." I explained before she even opened it. She eyed me curiously, then tore the wrapping in half.

Inside she found a small frame filled with a really fuckin' awkward photo of myself. I wasn't the type to _do_ photos, but I'd quietly asked Celia to take one of me at work cos I knew she'd be less likely to laugh at me.

To my extreme mortification, that's exactly what Chels did now. Tears were in her eyes before she stopped and I slumped down in my seat, blush going all the way down my neck.

"It ain't _that_ bad." I grumbled and she calmed herself down to reply.

"It's not that." She gasped. "I love it, I just can't help but imagine you asking someone to take a photo of you whilst you posed by a stable."

"It was only Celia." I grumbled again and Chels smiled softly, before walking around the table to kiss me. "Thank you. You're right, it _will_ help with when you're away." And then she disappeared into the bedroom, presumably to prop it up somewhere. "Better get some clothes on cowboy, we got a day to discover!" she called and I grinned as I shoved the breakfast dishes into the sink and followed her into the bedroom.

~.oOo.~

We decided to spend the day on a nature walk in the jungle. It seemed like it would be moderately warmer there – jungles _had_ to be warm, right? – so we packed a bag full of stuff to last us til the evening on Chelsea's insistence. She shoved blankets and spare clothes into the thing and told me that we weren't coming home before the night for some reason, but I figured it was all part of her plan, so I just shrugged and offered to carry the bag.

The jungle was indeed slightly warmer and we ambled through it, exploring parts that we'd not gone to before as Chels chattered about Shea and Lanna. The evening fell upon us quickly and we evacuated as it fell dark.

"I'm taking you out for dinner." I announced as we crossed the bridge back into East town and I tugged Chels off to Pierre's restaurant.

Dinner was a real treat. This was the first time we were eating out together – normally we hogged all of our short time with each other in Chels's house – but it was actually real nice to go out and have a meal like a normal couple. The restaurant had a good ambience and Pierre's food was top-notch; his choice in wine list even better. After the stress of yesterday, it felt good to just sit together, messing around and knocking back the vino.

After dessert, Chels tugged me over to the bridge that led to the meadow, insisting that we do some star-gazing before we went home. I was pleasantly buzzed and she was gigglin' so much that I stumbled along behind her, merry as anything. The reason for the over-stuffed bag made sense as she pulled out two blankets – one for us to sit on and one for us to huddle under.

The stars were breath-taking. I mean, so was the cold, but the sky was somethin' _else_. There was no way you'd see anything like this in the city and though I was freezing my ass off to see them, I didn't regret it for a second, looking at what I was looking at. It was such an ingrained habit for me to keep my gaze away from the sky, I'd never properly star-gazed before and what I was looking at now seemed fake.

Studded everywhere you looked were tiny dots of light looming out the dark. It made me feel absolutely tiny at the reminder that there's so much else out there than just us, floating on a blue dot in space.

"Wow." Chels breathed from under my arm and there wasn't really anything else to say.

We stayed out under our blanket for as long as we could manage before the cold chased us into moving and we stumbled home, slightly tipsy and fingertips numb as we clasped hands.

The moment we got back to the farm we were on each other. Navigating through crops when tipsy, in the pitch black and when you couldn't feel half your limbs was a challenge, but we both rose to it admirably. We stumbled into the bedroom, me already tryna slip her dress off her when I noticed something black in the background and I was momentarily distracted enough to actually pull back to investigate.

"Wha-?" I trailed off as I noticed new blackout blinds in Chels's window – ones like the ones in my room at Aunt Bella's.

"Happy anniversary." Chels grinned at me. "I had Gannon install them for us whilst we were out today."

"You sneaky minx!" I laughed and scooped her up in my arms, carrying her over to the bed and gently dropping her into the middle of it. "Thank you." I said honestly before diving down to finish what we'd started.

~.oOo.~

Thursday evening came too soon in my opinion, and Chels said goodbye to me on the farm. She would have seen me off, but Lola was bein' a shit – what's new? – and was refusing to go back in the barn. It had been the first sunny day we'd seen in a while and she'd thought it'd be nice to get the animals out for a bit, only now the fuckin' cow was refusing to go back inside and I had to catch my boat. It was going to be weird, almost four days away from her. Time seemed to move so slowly when I was with her – it was over too fast, but when it was it felt like I'd been with her for months, not days – it felt like an age ago when I was last in the city; when we were last doing the long-distance thing over the phone. I winced. I guess it _had_ been a while longer seeing as I'd ignored her for the better part of two weeks.

I made it down to the beach uninterrupted when, surprise surprise, Tina jumped out from literally nowhere and into my path. I actually looked around myself a bit to see where she could have been hiding, but came up blank. I guess I'd really not been paying attention. Thinking about my girlfriend had a tendency to make me zone out.

"Where're you off to?" She asked, with a beam that could blind on her face.

"The city." I replied, haltingly. "I'm only here a few days a week."

"That must be pretty hard on your relationship with Chelsea." She said sympathetically, caring frown on her face and reaching out to touch my arm.

"It's not actually." I said, sending her a clear glare, jerking away from her hand. "We're secure enough in it that the distance only makes us grow closer." Apart from when I decided to screw things up for us.

"Oh of course." She laughed. "I was just worried that 'out of sight, out of mind' might kick in. How long have you guys been together? Three months?" I see she's been doing her digging around the locals already then. "That's a pretty young relationship." I know I'd been warned, but I couldn't believe she thought she was being subtle. How had other guys fallen for this?

"I keep to myself." I ground out. "And I know all the guys here. None of them are a threat. And we talk on the phone every day so without worrying about cheating or lack of communication, there's not really anything to fret over."

"The intimacy must be hard to upkeep, though." She said and I guess with her current expression, I had to grudgingly admit that if Chels hadn't cautioned me of her behaviour I'd genuinely think the worried look she was sending me was for _my_ sake. Her question was still way out of her business though.

"Oh we make up for it in _spades_ when we're together." I leered at her and she actually cringed a bit. _Success_. The boat blared its horn as it moored and I left without another word to the girl. Nosy creep.

 **Chapter End.**

 **A/N** **: Extreme Time Lapsing being practised in the next chapter. The tenses might get a bit confused at points, so please bear with me.**

 **You have been warned.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10.**

 **-** Vaughn -

The weeks sort of bled together from that point on. I still found the travelling back and forth tiring, but there was something to be said about routines – they made the time fly in retrospect. I came back for the last week of November with a new cow for Chels – one I had personally picked out as the happiest lot of the herd we had in the city. She'd called her Alexa and given the weighting that Chels put in her name choices, I'd looked it up on a computer at work. 'Defender of mankind'. I…honestly don't understand why, despite her trying to explain it to me over dinner the next day. Something about her thinking Alexa might help Lola and Mara and if they become a bit cheerier then our mental states will be saved…it all seemed a bit tenuous, but I love the girl too much to contradict her.

Winter Harmony Day was on a Friday, so we celebrated early the day before with Chels making me a chocolate mousse type thing seeing as she knew I can't stand anything as heavy as a cake. That would have been a brilliant day if Tina hadn't appeared trying to give me her shitty cookies. After the time she'd caught me walking to catch my boat, Chels hadn't left my side outside the farm. Tina had also laid off a bit…for all of a day into my return the next week. It was…straining things a bit between Chels and I, but not due to either of our behaviour. We were still solid, but we could do without the annoyance of the journalist. I'd seen how it got Chels down – having a constant negative reminder of her life back in London. I still didn't know what had gone on there, but she seemed to be fallin' slowly into a funk that I'd not really seen her in before and I knew it wouldn't have happened half as fast if not for Tina's presence.

Starry Night was a Monday, so I got the afternoon off work to catch the midday boat out – something which was newly created in order to help with the hordes of tourists that were risking the journey over icy winter seas just to see the snow-globe like island blanketed in white. We had another slightly stilted dinner with Mirabelle – she seemed to be gettin' a bit ahead of herself with mine and Julia's future plans, thinkin' up wedding ideas and though she knew better than to mention it whilst Chels was sat there at the table, we both could see the anticipatory glint in her eye. Chels and I had then lain down in the middle of her field – the only place we felt safe from Tina – and watched the stars for hours. It was a crescent moon that night, so I didn't find it too bad to stare up at the twinkling lights scattered over the black. We'd spent the evening mostly talking about nothing, just enjoying the comfort we felt around each other, but then the conversation had taken a darker turn, enough to cement my worries over Chels's emotional state right now.

"How d'you think the world will end?" she'd asked, and it was innocent enough. I was used to her random questions about shit by now and I knew she had a morbid fascination with life and mortality in general. It had been pretty out of character when she'd first asked months ago if I knew what the difference would be between the time it took someone to bleed out in summer versus winter, but when I'd just shrugged and said it'd probably be faster in summer, she'd smiled at me and moved the topic on. I guess I just didn't find those sorts of things all that weird – I'd grown up seeing a lot of death and hearing a lot of medical and philosophical talk about life. Other people may have run in the opposite direction, worrying about being stabbed and left outside to bleed or somethin', but Chels was just special to me. Even if she did sound a bit like a serial killer sometimes.

"With a war, presumably." I'd replied, indulging her question with an actual answer as always. This time, she didn't smile at me gratefully though. She'd just stared at the sky blankly – reminding me scarily of her breakdown in the summer during the storm.

"I think it'll end with a graveyard." She'd said.

"Is there a difference?" I'd asked and she'd hummed and fallen silent. I'd deemed the topic closed and was about to say something to lighten the mood and soothe my worries when she'd spoken again.

"I wonder if there are other creatures on their planets looking out and seeing Earth as a pale dot in their sky." She'd pondered – eyes tracing The Plough and finding the North Star. "I wonder if they see it and think 'when our world ends, we can move to that planet to survive', but in reality we're faded blue and we're all dead and the planet is dead too."

That's when alarms had rang in my head and I'd reached out to touch her face, turning her head to look at me.

"Well if that happens, it's not going to happen for a long time." I'd said and she'd smiled at me and my heart had lifted back up from my kidneys.

"Do you believe in aliens?" She'd asked and I'd settled back into my old position.

"Definitely." I'd replied. "There're too many things out there we don't know about for it to be impossible." and the conversation had returned to normality.

Drama had only ensued from that point on, but not quite in the way I was expecting.

~.oOo.~

I went back to work at the end of the week to be greeted by a distraught Celia. I felt kind of bad seeing her so upset. I'd been speaking to her less after my fight with Chels and had only just picked the talking thing back up the week previous.

"My mom's left." She told me, scrunching and unscrunching the skirt of her dress. "Hugh's in the kitchen. He's taken it really hard. My family's been fostering him for a few years y'see and even with the support money we've been struggling and now my mom has just up and _left_." Her voice was lowered to spare Hugh from hearing and I just stood there completely bewildered. "Dad's a wreck, as are our finances, and I'm taking on shifts here left right and center to make up for it. I should have left home years ago, to be honest, but with our income the way it was we thought it'd be easier if I stayed at home and just contributed with my wages rather than having to pay rent on somewhere else as well, but now Dad can't afford to feed three mouths by himself and I'm going to have to move out somewhere and we don't know what to do with Hugh. Dad loves him to pieces, he really does, but I think he's seen how back on track he could get if he only had to worry about himself. Plus Hugh's only a foster child, he's not adopted so I guess Dad's always known there was a chance they'd go their separate ways. So Hugh's coming with me because he still can't go back to his family but I don't know _where_ he's coming because I've not got anywhere to go." I blinked at her, then gestured for her to come through to the kitchen. If there was anything that I knew right now, it was that Hugh shouldn't be alone.

"Howdy, cowboy." I greeted as brightly as I could when I saw the small boy sitting at the table, nursing his racing car mug that was filled with milk. His face lightened slightly at the sight of me, but his smile was weak.

"Howdy, Vaughn." He greeted back, subdued, and I frowned. I took my hat off and put it on his head, making a cup of coffee quickly from the still hot kettle and putting it in front of Celia who had collapsed in the chair next to Hugh.

"What's up, Hugh?" I asked, sending a sideways glance to Celia. I didn't know how much the kid knew.

"Mom left." He sighed, then frowned and kicked the table leg angrily. "Not that she was my _real_ mom or nuthin'." Celia sent the boy a worried glance but didn't berate him his anger. I figured now was as good a time for the kid to be upset as any. "Dad says that I have to move out. Do I have ta?" He asked, turning to Celia. She looked pained.

"It would help Dad a lot if we both did." She agreed. "Do you mind a lot?" Hugh shrugged.

"'Snot like it's that great a place anyway. Mom and Dad are never around neither." He mumbled and Celia sighed heavily.

"We'll find somewhere for the two of us." She reassured. "Somewhere…nice." I think it was obvious to both me and Hugh that she was trying to be kind at the same time as not get his hopes up. Hugh frowned at his sister, worry evident in his face. Damn the kid was too young to be dealing with this kind of crap. "I'm probably going to have to change my job." Celia said to me. "I love working here with the animals, but I always knew it wasn't going to be a lifelong thing. It just doesn't pay enough for me to live around here on my own salary."

"I could be a paper boy or summin'." Hugh said. I glanced at him and saw his determined face. He was young, yeah, but that also meant he was adaptable. He'd be okay, I think. It was Celia who was probably going to struggle the most.

"Not in this city, you won't." She frowned at her brother. "It's not safe."

"Is too." He grumbled. Suddenly inspiration struck and I stood up from the table in one quick movement.

"I may have an idea." I warned them, then went out back to where the animals were grazing, digging out my cell from my pocket with one hand and shielding my eyes with my other. I had to phone her four separate times before Chels heard the phone ringing from wherever she had been on the farm and picked up.

"Hello?" She asked, sounding breathless. The girl should really get a better phone. One with caller ID perhaps. And voicemail capabilities.

"You like takin' in strays right?" I asked, without preamble.

"Vaughn?" She questioned though I knew that by now she could recognise my voice no matter how badly the connection distorted it.

"Yeah." I answered hurriedly, wanting her to get to the point.

"What, have you got another Deimos for me?" She asked, smile in her voice and I snorted slightly as I compared Hugh to Deimos.

"Of a kind, I guess." I changed my tone to serious. "Listen up." I ordered. "I just came in to work today and there's been some bad news with Celia and Hugh."

"Oh God." I heard her breathe out and the creaking of her sitting down in the armchair she kept by the phone.

"They're both alright." I reassured quickly. "Physically, at least. Their mom has walked out on them and their dad is kicking them out." I explained.

"Oh, Vaughn." She sighed, "how're you holding up?" that made me pause. Y'know, with all the worry I had inside me for the two of them, I hadn't even thought to draw up the parallels of their situation to my own.

"I'm fine." I said, surprised at how true it was. "I'm just tryin' to help them out."

"Of course." She agreed. "What can I do?" I smiled. Damn this girl was amazing.

"Well I was thinkin' – you know the cottage by the cinema? No one's moved in there have they?"

"No." She hummed. "But it's awfully small for the two of them. Would they be able to afford to upgrade it?" I shook my head as I verbally denied it.

"No. But you know how you've got that spare room from your last upgrade?" I hinted and she caught on.

"So what, Celia live in the house and Hugh live with me. Won't she get lonely?"

"Well I'd need to talk to them about it." I conceded. "But they've only been livin' together for a couple of years and though they're real close and all, I think she'd probably appreciate the space a little bit, deep down. She's 24 – she wants to be gettin' on with her life." Chelsea hummed in contemplation.

"I suppose. You can get very attached to people in shorter spaces of time than a few years though." Yeah, like I needed convincing of that. 6 months of knowing the girl, 4 months of dating and I was already crazy head over heels for her.

"I know." I said, voice heavy with double meaning and I think she caught it.

"Well it'd be a big change." She said. "Even with his own room we'd get a lot less privacy. No more walking from our room to the bathroom naked."

"It's too cold to do that right now anyway." I waived. "And I'm not saying it'd be forever, he's still in the foster system after all…just for an indefinite period of time." She went silent for a little while.

"You really want this, don't you?" She asked quietly.

"I want to _help_." I insisted. I wasn't about to let two more kids – though Celia was only two years younger than I am – have their lives fucked up thanks to this god forsaken city.

"Alright." She agreed. "He's a good kid, easy to have around, and Celia would only be a short walk away. He'd have a lot more freedom here too…" she hummed again, thinking of the possibilities. "He'd love it if he could grow up on the farm; no kid should grow up without a space to run and fly kites and play catch. He'll love all the animals and the crops; and he'd get to celebrate the festivals as well which is more than he gets in the city. And there are kids here too, though less than he's used to with school…he could join in the tutoring Chen gives Charlie and Eliza though and he wouldn't be any worse for wear…and there are always family visiting with children he could play with…" I smiled as I heard her planning it all out.

"God, I love you, Chels." I sighed. "You're brilliant, really. Thank you." She laughed.

"That's what I'm here for." She teased. "To remind all you Earthlings what perfection is." I laughed back. "Now go talk it over with them and put them out their misery. Tell me about it tonight."

"Yes ma'am." I replied obediently, preparing to hang up.

"Oh and cowboy?" She called in time for me to hear her before pressing the little red phone button. "I love you, too and you're even more brilliant than I am."

"Not possible." I smiled. "I'll speak t'ya later." and I hung up, walking back inside with a shit eating grin on my face.

I entered the kitchen and had to tame the smile lest I look like I was enjoying their misery. I was kind of excited though, if they said yes. It'd be like having Cass back only not quite. I couldn't ever replace Cass and it wouldn't be fair of me to think of Hugh as a substitute and to ignore the cool little guy he was in his own right, but I liked the kid and I think it'd be fun to have him around.

"Plausible solution found." I greeted as I retook my seat. Celia looked at me quizzically whilst Hugh kept looking down at the table, kicking the leg and pouting over being denied his right to be a paper boy. "There's a one bedroom cottage available in a prime location outside the city." I began and I could _feel_ my eyes twinkling with mirth. Hugh looked up at that and Celia frowned.

"One bedroom?" She asked.

"Well there's another bedroom available in a different building a short walk away." I shrugged, holding up my hand as Celia frowned harder and opened her mouth to refuse. "A certain building on a certain farmland on a certain island." I continued and enjoyed the dawning realisation on both their faces. "One which is just the right size for a little boy to grow up in and help out on the farm. I can assure you the current live-in landlord is sound as is her companion who stays with her 3 days a week."

"I could live on the _farm_?!" Hugh shouted, jumping out his seat. I looked at Celia who seemed torn between gratitude and worry.

"But, won't that put you and Chelsea out a lot?" She asked. "And I can't afford to buy a cottage and where would I work?" Hugh was sort of prancing around, pretending to ride a horse or something, so I lowered my voice to direct it at her alone.

"Chels is more than fine with it. We think Hugh's a great kid and if you miss him too badly he can move in with you once you're back on your feet and can afford to upgrade the cottage. You might have to fight us for him though." I grinned. I don't think I'd smiled this much around anyone other than Chels, nor talked this openly, but such was my excitement that I couldn't hold it in. "As for the money, well you'd be next door to a cinema and opposite both the café and the restaurant. There's the inn and hotel as well. The island's getting more attention every day and they could all use the extra help with the tourists. It'd be hard work, but you'd probably be able to get enough to get your weekends back."

"And the price of the cottage…?" She asked hesitantly. That gave me pause.

"You know what? I don't think a single person who's moved onto the island has paid for their house." I scratched my head in thought. "A couple of the newer inhabitants had to have Gannon build them theirs, so I guess they paid for it but…I'm pretty sure if you just turned up and told Taro what happened, you'd be able to get the house for free. There's no rent. We're not really established enough for that. Taro, Chen, Gannon and Chels make up the only sort of government we have, and I know Taro and Chels wouldn't have an issue with it. Eliza likes Hugh so she'd have no issue with twisting Charlie's and Gannon's arms if they were to have a problem, and then Charlie could convince Chen. _If_ any of them had any concerns in the first place, which I severely doubt. And it's not like Chels will be charging you rent for Hugh's room – he'll probably help out on the farm anyway."

The worry in her face had melted as I'd spoken and now she looked close to tears.

"So," she confirmed, "I'd get a free house, no rent to pay for me or Hugh, free weekends, the chance to socialise with people my own age and a multitude of jobs to pick from?" I nodded and she kind of collapsed into her hands, crying with relief. Well. So long as she wasn't throwing herself at me. Chels was the only crying woman I'd stand to hold. Maybe Julia or Aunt Bella at a stretch.

"So, so, so?" Hugh cried, jumping up and down and tugging at Celia's skirts. "Are we moving to the island?" Celia wiped her eyes and sniffed heavily, sending a grateful look in my direction.

"Seems like it." She agreed and Hugh let out an almighty ' _whoo_!' and ran into the shop front on a lap of the store.

"Are you sure you won't be off badly without him?" I asked and she smiled at me sadly.

"Honestly, Vaughn, I think I'll get to see him more often this way. I practically live here I take so many shifts anyway. I don't even get to enjoy weekends with him. This is better for him." She reassured me.

"But for you?" I prodded.

"I'm his sister." She said, looking a bit distant. "Maybe if I were a bit older or a bit more independent, I could act like a parent for him, but I'm just his sister. I don't want to be a parent yet." She looked at me worriedly. "Does that make me a horrible person?" she asked and I shrugged.

"I'd say that makes y'all human." She smiled.

"Y'know," She started, a sly tone entering her voice. "Chelsea forcing you to talk to me was probably the best thing that's ever happened to Hugh and I." I blushed and coughed uncomfortably, not liking to be made aware of how I wouldn't even know her name if it hadn't been for Chels, let alone that Hugh existed. And now the kid was moving in with us.

"Chelsea was the best thing that's ever happened to me." I gruffed out and Celia smiled.

"Thank you, Vaughn." She said, "I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay you guys enough, but if there's ever anything you need that I can help with, it's yours, okay?"

"Repayment not necessary." I said because I knew it's what Chelsea would have said. "But sure. You're welcome." Hugh came running back in at that point and flung himself onto his sister's lap, my hat falling onto the table behind him.

"I just realised that means we won't be living together no more." He said, burying himself into the folds of her clothes. She stroked his head gently.

"It means we'll get to see each other every day and you get _two_ houses to stay in." she replied and he perked up, sliding off her and grabbing my hat back up; plonking it on his head again. He turned to me and scrambled onto my lap next; my arms coming up automatically behind his back to support him.

"So I gets ta live with you sometimes?" He asked, grinning his toothless grin up at me.

"Three nights a week." I confirmed.

"And I can play all I want with the animals?"

"If you're safe about it."

"And I can plant my own vegetables?"

"I'll bet ya Chels will even give you your own little patch to look after."

"And I can go to the beach and the mountain and the jungle?"

"With proper supervision." The kid paused his line of questioning and caught his breath.

"This is going to be _awesome_." He whispered and I couldn't stop myself from smiling.

Some couples got a song; we got a dog. Some couples give each other keys to their places; we give each other kids.

~.oOo.~

New year's brought in a bunch of new news as well. On a happy note, gossip told that Mark had moved out to live in the church with Alisa and Nathan. Alisa was like a less strict nun but to the Harvest Goddess, so they couldn't get married, but they could live together, and it's not like there was anything sexual between the two of them anyway. I suddenly found myself warming up to Mark a bit more, now I knew for sure he wasn't after my Chels.

On a far more upsetting note – or one that caused a large amount of upheaval at least – Tina had got to Elliot. I guess I was too much hard work with my constant moving and with Chels guarding me like a dog with a bone, so she'd moved on to easier prey. Prey with massive insecurities born from his sister's treatment of him and the fact he felt completely inadequate to his girlfriend in all ways possible. And then Tina had swooped in with her poisonous words and bubbly personality and Elliot had fallen for it hook line and sinker. _Idiot_.

Julia was hysterical, as was to be expected. Chels had phoned me the moment she found out and told me that she'd taken Julia in into her spare bedroom. She'd reassured me that Julia would be out before Celia and Hugh got there at the beginning of the second week of January – she just needed some time away from home; being neighbours with Taro had been brilliant beforehand, but now all Julia could do was cry whenever she saw Elliot. The guy wasn't dating Tina – yet – but was spending an awful lot of time with her, hanging off her every word, as she fed him praise constantly. It didn't help that Natalie had laid into him something terrible when she'd found out and Tina had jumped in to his defence. Apparently he'd spent the entire fight just staring at her star struck. Jules had never had the chance to do that for him – Natalie respected her too much to lay into her brother when Julia was around, and the relationship between the twins had been improving for it – but now Tina was defending him where Julia hadn't and Elliot was going crazy for it.

That first week of the month had been hell to be in the house for. New Year's Day was a Tuesday and so I'd been there the night before – the day after Elliot had dumped her. Chels and I had been planning on a nice romantic night in, but instead spent it trying to ignore the fact that it was New Year's altogether for Julia's sake. Chels had spent the day before working Julia's ass off in the animal barn so she'd be too tired to greet in the New Year that night. By the time I'd arrived, Jules looked ready to drop and barely had time to give me a half-hearted hug before retiring to the spare room. Chels and I hadn't wanted to risk staying in the living room, so we'd gone to her room – a room I'd only recently noticed her calling _our_ room – and listened to the distant bangs of fireworks as the clock struck midnight. We'd not been planning on going to the show anyway after the fireworks festival went down so badly for me, but there was still a sombre mood to the air that I vowed would be gone this time next year.

The next day had been the worst of the week. Jules could not stop crying her eyes out and though I found it easier to deal with a crying girl than how Chels got when she went all distant and blank, it was still rough to deal with, especially as Chels was still acting all weird because of Tina's presence on the island. Chels went through her work on autopilot as I spent the day indoors with Jules, pouring cup after cup of hot chocolate down her throat and suffering through an inane amount of movies that Chels had encouraged her to bring to watch on her new telly – something she'd bought in preparation for Hugh. It was sweet, actually, looking around the house and seeing all the additions she'd got for the kid. She'd had Gannon redecorate the room Julia was staying in before Julia and Elliot split – it was pretty artistic actually, for such a big guy. She'd got him to draw a wild western scene of a cowboy – coloring suspiciously like what an older Hugh may look like – on a horse rotating his rope about his head in circles.

"Lasso." Chels had corrected me and I'd snorted back at her.

"We call it a rope like any normal person, Chels." I'd replied.

In any case she'd done the walls up like a cowboy scene, the bed was a race car, she'd got a set of shelves for his sports awards, a toy box like a pirate's treasure chest and the rest of the decor including curtains had a definite astronaut theme going on. Well. At least she was letting the kid know he had options. The kitchen had an extra chair in addition to the five at the table already – this one slightly smaller, green and with "Hugh" painted on the back in tiger stripes. She'd not bought any toys, not knowing what he liked and figuring he'd be bringing some stuff with him, but she'd bought a kite and a Frisbee and I'm _pretty_ sure I'd seen a shiny new bike hidden in the horse stable. The farm was doing really well despite the season thanks to the diamond funded greenhouse and it was showing in the amount of care Chels had put into making Hugh feel welcome.

The breakup of Julia and Elliot also provided her the chance to practice her baking skills and she churned out batches of cookies and puddings and other desserts endlessly – shipping the ones the three of us couldn't get through and earning a pretty penny from them as she did. Somehow she was managing to bring things together even as she and Jules fell apart and I couldn't stop admiring – or worrying about – her for it.

I went back to work at the end of the week and spent my downtime helping Celia pack up hers and Hugh's shit from her dad's and pile it into the backroom at the store. Mike had been pretty chill about letting her leave on short notice, and letting her use the backroom even though she was quitting without the standard two weeks. I guess there's not a lot you can say to someone who just got abandoned by their mom and kicked out by their dad. I hired a cheap van to move the stuff from work to the docks and then that Monday night we were going to the island to start their new life.

We were greeted on the beach by a veritable superhero team for all the varying statures the crowd displayed. There was Gannon, of course, and Chels. But she'd also gathered up Charlie, Denny and Pierre to help carry things. A bizarre-r moving team I never did see.

"Hey man!" Denny greeted me as I climbed over board onto the dock. I nodded in his direction but prioritised giving Chels a peck on the lips over going to say hello properly. Hugh jumped off behind me and went tearing down the dock to the beach to start talking a mile a minute at Charlie. Considering that they'd left off in a pretty bad way, they were chattin' like nothing had happened. Kids, huh. Chels leant over and helped Celia get out and I grabbed the first box.

"How's it goin'?" I asked Denny as I got closer to him, passing him the box I was carrying. Gannon had taken my place at the head and it looked like we had some weird conveyor belt thing going on; only half the packages skipped Charlie and Pierre.

"It's going good, man." He replied, turning to put the box on the floor. I received the next one and it got handed to him and then joined the first on the sand. "Better than it's going for Julia and Elliot at least." I frowned.

"I've not seen much of Elliot." I said honestly. I'd been avoiding the twerp until I was sure I'd be able to see him without punching his face in. "But Jules is startin' to do better." That was a half-lie. She was better than she was at the start of the month, but a hell of a long way from okay.

"Hmmm." Denny hummed and staggered a bit in surprise at the weight of the next box. Celia had a lot of books. "She tried it on with me, y'know? Tina." _I_ staggered a bit at that and turned to look at him properly.

"I'm guessin' that didn't go down well with your blond." I phrased carefully. Denny and Pierre weren't out to the whole island yet. It seemed that Denny came from an area where mixed race couples were scorned, let alone homosexual or even worse – both. I didn't think he really had much to worry about on our island, but hey, it's not me that would have to put up with any shit that may happen.

"You kidding?" He laughed. "Like my blond would let anyone intimidate them! I'm no Elliot, man. I didn't waver for a second. I hear Tina can't cook for shit, anyway." He winked at me and I smirked, looking over to see Pierre's disembodied hat floating towards us behind a black sack full of bedding and rugs.

"Is that how it's going to be from now on?" Pierre asked, half throwing the sack at Denny as he laughed at his struggle. "'Elliot' becoming a term for something bad rather than the name of a friend?" Denny shifted guiltily in place. I, for one, couldn't care less. The jerk had broken my cousin's heart and Pierre didn't have anything to hold over me to make me feel remorse. I guess he had a lot more to hold over – or rather, _with_ hold _from_ – Denny 'cause the fisherman sighed and stroked the back of the chef's hand as he took the next box from him.

"Sorry babe." He said lowly and Kuu peeped sorrowfully from his place on his head. Pierre just shook his head and Denny looked even more mournful. The more I saw the two interact, the more I saw who wore the trousers – or should I say, pantaloons – in their relationship. I wonder if there was a power imbalance in mine and Chelsea's relationship as well.

"Alright, everyone!" I heard my girlfriend's voice call out and looked around to see that the boat was sailing off and all of Celia and Hugh's stuff was on the ground and being separated by Hugh and Charlie. "For those who didn't meet them on Hallowe'en, this is Celia and Hugh." She indicated to each in turn. "They've decided to move in and become permanent residents of the island, so play nice!" The last bit was kind of directed at Charlie I think, but the kid was too engrossed in searchin' for packaging labelled with 'Celia' that he didn't notice. "Celia's going to move into Regis's old place, and Hugh's going to move in with me so if we could divide the group to take their stuff to their respective houses we can all get to bed sooner." She clapped her hands and we all migrated towards the two piles of stuff. Pierre, Gannon, Charlie and Celia started picking up stuff from her pile and Chels, Denny and I took stuff from Hugh's as the boy just grabbed his rucksack and zoomed off ahead of us. When we caught up to him, he was hopping up and down on Chelsea's front door step, remembering his manners enough to wait for the owner of the house to arrive before barging in there.

"You want to see your room, then?" Chels asked, smiling and I don't know what it was about her interacting with kids that got me so hot under the collar but I was suddenly jealous of the box in her arms.

"Yes please, yes please, yes please!" Hugh chanted. "I never got my own room before!" I had seen the place they'd been living in back in the city. It wasn't the worst it could be, but it was far from ideal. Two small bedrooms, a cupboard of a toilet and shower and a tiny kitchen. There'd been a TV in his parents' room but there wasn't a living room or anything. Liveable but not preferable.

"Alright well you have to close your eyes!" Chelsea sung in a teasing voice as she opened the door slowly. Denny grunted and I exchanged a look with him – we were both holding two boxes and we were fit guys, but our arms were starting to ache anyway. Chels just grinned at us and slowed her movements as much as possible.

"I swear to all the fish in the ocean, Chelsea if you don't _hurry_ _up -_ " Denny started.

"Such babies." Chels sighed under her breath, then moved into the house at a normal pace again rolling her eyes, allowing us to dump our shit on her kitchen table. She gently placed her box with ours then went to collect Hugh who was still standing on the doorstep, eyes shut tightly. "I'm gonna lead you there so no peeking!" She said as she put her hands on Hugh's shoulders and moved the boy towards his new room. Denny and I stood by the table still, flexing our arms to work out the ache and grunting. We were adult men, not babies.

We started to move back towards the beach to get the last of the few things Hugh had, but before we left the house I heard the door to the spare room creaking – I'd asked Chels if she was gonna oil it, but she'd given me this lecherous grin and said the warning would probably serve us well in the future – followed by her voice saying "Okaaaay…open!". It was quiet for about three seconds before –

" _Wow!_ " Hugh yelled. "This is so _cool_!" I grinned, knowing Chels had been a bit nervous about showing him his room with its mish-mash of themes.

"I'll never get used to that." Denny said to me as we left the house and walked down the ranch's dirt path. I raised an eyebrow at him before realising it was too dark for him to see.

"What?" I asked instead.

"You. Grinning. I've seen it so often in the past five months or so, but it still takes me by surprise."

"Chelsea." I shrugged in explanation as we walked past Gannon's. "The girl's my world."

~.oOo.~

True to my word, Chels had set aside a little patch for Hugh in the greenhouse for him to grow his own turnips in and he helped her look after the animals every day as well. The latter was where shit got weird. Mara and Lola – remember them? The mopiest sons of bitches the island ever saw? Yeah well, apparently all they were waitin' for was for Hugh to move onto the island because I kid you not, the _second_ they saw him, they were suddenly acting like your average, content livestock. We tried to explain why we were so shocked to him, but it didn't really work because they were so opposite to how they'd always been that he didn't believe us. They were still pretty stand-offish when it came to Chels and I, but they would eat in front of us and moo and bleet in tones cheerier than their usual angst.

"D'you think they were just feeling broody?" Chels asked me the night after Hugh had moved in as we were lying in bed together. The door was shut firmly on the room and one of her bare legs was draped over mine as she lay on my chest with my arm wrapped around her; her fingers tracing over my pectorals and breasts pressed into my side. "Should we take them to Mirabelle's and get them impregnated?" I ran the fingers of my free hand up and down her arm a bit, taken, as always, by how soft her skin was compared to the roughness of her hands.

"Possibly." I hummed. "If you can afford to have them both pregnant at the same time." I didn't think either of them would take kindly to the other one having a child if they didn't have one themselves.

"We'll wait until spring." she said and I realised how pretty much everything she said now included me as part of the equation in a 'we'. I guess the farm was my home now. No longer was I torn between two places – this farm, with its grumpy animals and gorgeous owner, was definitely home to me more than Aunt Bella's. "I need their produce still for the season, unwillingly given as it is." I snorted. "Besides, spring's going to be good this year." I took me all of ten seconds to realise that she meant Tina was leaving in spring. I dropped a kiss on her head.

"Couldn't come fast enough." I agreed.

~.oOo.~

Now I feel kinda guilty admittin' this, but for some reason life on the island became even better when Hugh was around than when it was just Chels and I in her house. I love Chelsea to pieces and I feel bad for the separation of the two siblings, but havin' Hugh buzzing in the background just made the picture feel a bit more…complete. I'd thought I'd feel like an older brother to the guy, or at least like a close uncle or somethin', but instead I found myself feeling kind of _paternal_. Celia stuck to her word and made sure to come round almost every day, and she had Saturday dinners and Sunday lunches with Chels and Hugh, but I think she was mostly enjoying her freedom. She was working shifts in both the diner and the café and was meeting a ton of new people through doing so and I think she was loving it. That wasn't quite my idea of a good time, and I much preferred coming back to the islands on Monday nights to Chels waitin' for me on the beach and Hugh jumpin' on me in bed in the morning. Hugh was such a bounce-back kid that he didn't even care about not seeing his sister much, but then I suppose this way he was probably actually seeing her _more_ than he had back in the city.

Whereas before Chels and I would have spent my days on the island alone together, going on dates or hanging round the farm, now we would spend them outside with Hugh; havin' snowball fights; ridin' his bike in the meadow (he'd gone freaking _nuts_ over it when he saw it) explorin' the jungle…we actually made it to the top of the mountain one day and I was ashamed to realise I was the least fit of the three of them. Considering he was nine years old, Hugh had a pretty unique take on health and fitness. He wasn't super conscious of it or anything, but he refused to eat too much unhealthy crap – and I'd never seen a kid before that said no if pudding was offered before dinner – and he went on a run around the island every day. Apparently he used to do it with his dad in the city, but Chels and I deemed the island safe enough for him to do it alone. It was that or he'd have to give it up because there definitely wasn't enough time in the mornings to get the farm cared for _and_ go on a run around the entire freakin' island as well.

Hugh seemed to help Julia out a bit as well. He was just such a happy kid – Charlie was cheery but still less boisterous than Hugh and Eliza was well…she was a stuck up brat in my opinion – that it kind of took a lot to be sad around him. Jules came with us to the meadow to fly the kite Chels bought on windy days and the shop had more animals than the farm still – by about two sheep – so he loved to hang out in the barn with them under Julia's supervision. She and Elliot still hadn't spoken by the time mine and Chels's anniversary rolled around again – one which I only caught the evening of as it was a Monday. The last I'd seen him, he'd been lookin' like he'd not slept in a week and was shaking with nerves like he was jumped up on caffeine. Guess his new _lady_ hadn't been payin' as much attention to him as he was expectin' and he was realising what a moron he'd been for breaking things off with Jules.

By the last week of January he cracked and started to tentatively try to talk to my cousin again. I was half pissed at him thinking he even deserved to be in the same room as her after the way he dropped her like a hot rock the moment someone else came along; half impressed at his guts because Natalie had been giving Jules some bolstering 'you're a strong, independent woman who doesn't need a man' talks over the past month and Jules had taken to them pretty fast. She snubbed him the first few times, but when he made it clear he wasn't givin' up, she gave in and made nice with him like she would with a stranger. I couldn't imagine ever making that sort of compromise with Chelsea – we seemed very much like an all or nothing couple – so I didn't really get how she could stand to spend time with him after being hurt as she had been.

The news broke in February that Tina was leaving. She'd apparently got all the winter snaps she needed to complete the brochure, but Chels was sure she was leaving because she was getting sick of Elliot's hurt looks following her around everywhere she went. Chels was pretty sarcastic about the entire thing actually, considering how much it had hurt her best friend, but then I guess she had a right to be. She'd told the truth about the girl and had been proved right by Elliot's actions, as painful as they had been. February 2nd hit and Elliot was as well. By Natalie. She screamed at him until he legitimately cried and Chelsea had to go over there to comfort him. My loyalties were obviously skewed because Jules was my cousin, but I didn't really think he deserved the comfort, despite the fact that Jules was talking to him again. Chels being Chels though remembered him as the guy who had saved her life a couple of times during the bad times the year before and remembered how happy he had made Jules and spent the rest of the week heavy duty counselling him, trying to iron out the insecurities that Tina had picked up on before they caused a repeat of the problem.

He gave Julia a chocolate cake for Valentine's with a blue feather sticking out the top and next thing we know they're engaged. I'd scowled and expected Aunt Bella to be a bit hostile as well, but she'd merely smiled.

"I've seen worse happen in relationships in my life than a young boy become a bit misguided for a month." She'd said like she was 80 fucking years old or something. If Chels left me for another guy for a month I'd _never_ take her back –

Well, crap. Okay that's a barrel of horseshit. I'd probably take her back in a heartbeat, if she were apologetic enough which she would be, knowing my Chels. _I guess,_ I thought very begrudgingly, _if Jules feels the same for Elliot that I feel for Chels, I can't blame her._

With Tina gone and Jules and Elliot back together – motherfuckin' _engaged_ – Chelsea came out her funk a bit. She'd been coping admirably well considering she had a full-time housemate now, but it was clear that she'd been acting a fair bit in the previous month; her falsity slipping under the craziness that was getting Hugh settled in and adjusting to him living with us. It was like the old Chels was back and I'd not even realised how much I'd missed her now that I could stop worrying as much. Gone were the morbid existential questions and back were the 'if aliens came here, do you think they'd be able to breathe?' style ones instead.

We'd woken up together on Valentine's Day but after doing all the farm work, we didn't really get to spend much of it together before I was running to the beach to get my Thursday night boat home. It was as I was waving goodbye to Hugh and Chels from the deck that I realised _this has got to stop_.

How many anniversaries had I missed due to being in the city? How many festivals? How many stressful days on the farm when all Chels wanted was a hug and a hot bath, but instead had to just go to bed alone? How many sobbing fits from Julia in January, how many 'what's sex?' questions from Hugh, how many 'I bumped into Lanna and Shea today' stories? I hated it in the city now. Before, I had just been pretty indifferent, but now it was really like I was leaving paradise to go to jail before breaking free again a few days later. I'd been constantly changing my times as the months had gone on; Wednesday morning boats had become Tuesday evening boats which in turn changed to Monday evening boats. How much longer could I keep pushing my arrival times back and my departure times forward until they met in the middle? Without Celia there at work, I didn't even care that much – because, yes, I'd long accepted that we were friends by now – I'd not even spoken to her replacement, let alone bothered to learn his name.

 _This has got to stop_. I repeated. I had a key to Chelsea's house; her room now held pretty much everything from my old one at Mirabelle's; we had a dog together and _hell_ , technically I guess we had a _kid_ together. It was domestic to have Chels meet me on the beach and wave me off again, but not as domestic as it was waking up in the morning and having a meal – a _family_ meal – around the kitchen table with Hugh; or going to bed at night to wrap her in my arms; or have her slap my hand with a wooden spoon when I tried to sneak cookie dough out the mixture before she baked it; or even to spend my evenings sat on the doorstep, freezing my ass off as I scrape all the animal crap off the soles of mine and Chelsea's shoes. I cringed to think of how baths went with Hugh without me there – Chelsea struggled with the concept of seeing the little guy naked for some reason, so bath times generally always fell to me, as did cooking most dinners and playing soccer on Chels's empty field. The farm was doing well and with the temperatures rising both the field and the greenhouse would be utilised soon, meaning we could do something about Lola and Mara's brooding…and if things got really tough then there was always fishing and mining – though I'd like to keep her away from _that_ as much as possible…but we could cope without two incomes.

What was I waiting for? My life is on that island.

 **Chapter End.**

 **A/N:** **I LOVE HUGH, DON'T YOU JUST LOVE HUGH? (ʘ‿ʘ** **)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11.**

\- Chelsea -

March arrived and it was like spring hit us overnight, even though the season wasn't technically due to start for another three weeks. Taro was playing like a broken record again, saying that it was going to be sunny, so Hugh and I spent the first day of the month in the greenhouse harvesting all the spring crops and planting summer ones. Hugh's crop-rearing was getting impressive, and I found that I didn't even have to fake the yummy noises I made when I ate something he'd grown for dinner anymore. It had been almost two months since the boy had moved in and I struggled now to think of how I filled my time before he arrived.

 _Pining after Vaughn, mostly._ I thought. I sighed as I buried some more pumpkin seeds in the soil, Hugh working solidly next to me on the tomatoes and onions. Vaughn had left for the city the night before and last week we'd celebrated our 6 month anniversary of dating. It was weird to think that we'd been together for half a year already. It felt like so much longer, maybe because half of it was spent wishing we were with each other. My patience with our situation was finally starting to run pretty thin. Having Hugh here helped fill the loneliness I suffered from when I was in my big old house by myself, but even his sunny energy couldn't take the place of the Vaughn-shaped hole by my side.

"I'm done Chelsea!" Hugh cried from my side, brushing off his hands and looking fondly down at his handiwork. Checking my watch I saw that we'd been in here for the entire morning already.

"Great work, honey." I said, patting the last of my seeds into the soil and standing up to click my back. I'd started calling him pet names after about the first two weeks of him living with me. I don't know if it was because I felt my maternal instincts kick in around him or if it was because he reminded me of Deimos too much, but he always looked like the cat that got the canary when I said them, so I carried on doing it. "Let's get some lunch then you can go off to Chen's." Hugh had joined in the tutor sessions Chen held with Charlie and Eliza every afternoon. It wasn't mandatory but Vaughn and I both thought it was essential for him to continue his education, and Celia agreed.

We made our way back to the house and I rustled up some simple sandwiches for us before seeing him off with his rucksack and going back to the greenhouse to set about watering what we'd just planted. I took a break with the animals and let the chickens run around me in the grass as I stared at my empty field. The real challenge started here. Wiping my forehead, I thanked the goddess for the sea breeze as I started tilling the soil, blending it with homemade fertiliser that Vaughn had encouraged me to compost. I swear that man had a better relationship with waste food and animal shit than he did with me.

~.oOo.~

Hours later and it was nearing 5PM. I'd finished about an hour ago and was taking a quick shower before going to fetch Hugh – he, Celia and I were going to dinner and a movie tonight. I threw on a dress – not Vaughn's one; that was only for special occasions with him – and towel dried my hair roughly before rushing slightly down my dirt path towards West town.

"Hullo Chen." I greeted as I walked into the store front. "I'm just here to pick up Hugh – hey, those are new!" I moved over to the seeds rack and saw some for pineapples. "I didn't know you'd be selling summer seeds now?" The ones I'd planted were leftovers from last year.

"Hello Chelsea." He bowed to me, smiling. "Hugh was telling me that you two are planting summer crops in your greenhouse. I had them in storage so I thought I'd put them out." Images of pineapple juice, cocktails and pizzas flashed before my eyes and my hand was in my rucksack digging out my money before I could control it. I grabbed a few packs and flung them on the counter, handing my money over as the man laughed.

"How's Hugh doing?" I asked lowly, aware that the kids were only on the other side of the door behind the counter.

"He's doing very well." Chen reassured me, handing me my change and seeds. "His education in the city has helped him and he's caught up very well even though I was slightly ahead of his curriculum with the other two."

"And how is he with Eliza and Charlie?" I hadn't forgotten how Hallowe'en had gone down last year. I'd seen the three of them playing well enough, but kids were more complex than one thought and who knew how much they'd been putting on a good show for me.

"They're fine, Chelsea." Chen soothed, "Honestly, Hugh's a great kid, very amiable. Even my Charlie couldn't hold a grudge against him. You've nothing to worry about." I sighed in relief, feeling pretty proud of Hugh. I vowed to get him an extra-large popcorn at the cinema after dinner.

"Thanks, Chen." I said as the door opened and Hugh appeared.

"Chelsea!" He grinned at me, running around the counter and taking my hand. "We were learning about England today." I smiled at Chen once more and turned to leave, Hugh at my side.

"Oh yeah? What were you learning about it?"

"The Tudors. Did you know Henry the eighth had _six_ wives?" I smiled.

"I did. D'you know the rhyme to remember how the marriages ended?" I asked. I couldn't remember any of my primary school education about the Tudors, but there was one rhyme my parents had always taught me.

"Nuh-uh!" He shook his head looking excited.

"Well it goes: divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived." He repeated it a couple times to himself and then smiled up at me.

"I'm gonna be ahead of the class now, thanks Chelsea!" I laughed at how eager Hugh was with everything in life – he always wanted to learn.

"No problem sweetheart." I replied and then he was off running ahead of me to greet Celia who was waiting for us outside the diner.

~.oOo.~

It was after the movie and the three of us were on the beach in the dark. Celia and I were sat by the boulder watching the lights of the evening boat get closer slowly as Hugh splashed around in the shallows. It was hard to remember that the boats still came and went every day even when they weren't bringing Vaughn with them.

"Is it weird," I was saying, not looking at Celia on purpose, "that I feel really maternal over Hugh?" Celia pondered my words in silence, continuing to pile sand around her feet in little heaps.

"No." She said slowly, dragging out the vowel. "I mean, maybe I would have as well if we hadn't been living with my parents, but with Mom around it was just so natural for me to be the big sister that that's what I became." I hummed.

"It's just strange. I'm not even old enough to have a kid his age, but he's just so magnetic that I keep finding myself teaching him things and disciplining him and feeling proud when I hear he's done well at school…when Vaughn's here it really feels like we're a family." She smiled this secretive little smile at the mention of Vaughn. She'd been doing it every time he came up in conversation for the past two weeks. If I didn't trust them both completely, I'd be suspicious of something untoward happening, but as it was I just figured that Vaughn had a surprise for me. Maybe he'd booked his birthday off work or something along those lines. I just shrugged it off; he'd tell me when he wanted to.

"I think that's a good thing." She reassured me. "Really. Back in the city none of us were really around to tell him off if he was rude or praise him for behaving or getting good marks or drawing a nice picture or anything like that. And on the rare occasions when Mom was home…well, when I was growing up it was definitely Dad that did most of my rearing. This is good for him, its building a routine and teaching him what a proper support system is like. Don't feel weird about it for my sake."

I mulled over her words as the ferry moored up, anchor going down and sailors tying her in place. I'd always seen myself as a maternal person, to be honest. I'd smile at parents with cute kids and coo at them when they were toddlers and waddling around on chubby legs. It had never been a question in my life if I was going to have kids or not – I was. End of story. I guess I'd just never really expected it to happen this soon, while I was this young, and without my being pregnant, giving birth or raising the child for nine years of their life. I mean, 9 years ago I was 11 – I hadn't even started my period, I _couldn't_ have had a kid if I'd wanted to. It was just a bizarre concept and I'd only had two months to get used to the idea, but I could see myself at the end of the year celebrating Starry Night with Vaughn _and_ Hugh. Taking Hugh to watch the New Year's fireworks show whilst Vaughn hid under the blanket. Teaching Hugh how to fish with a rod and catch bugs without hurting them. I could see myself sending him off with a slightly older Charlie and Eliza for Hallowe'en and then retiring to the sofa with Vaughn, or even seeing them sneaking around trying to get alcohol before they were 18…or 21? I don't think we'd even come up with that law for the island yet.

A couple of late night stragglers disembarked the boat and if I hadn't been so accustomed to searching for him in the dark, I wouldn't have even noticed my cowboy's silhouette creeping through the night towards West town.

"Vaughn?" I called, standing up and brushing the sand off me. The figure stopped, reoriented and started walking towards me as I moved towards him. "What on Earth are you doing here?" I asked, beaming as I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Mmm, popcorn." He mumbled and I felt his lips stretch into a smile against my mouth. "You been to the cinema? Is there a hot date that I should be worryin' about?"

"Yeah, this gorgeous ginger guy." I replied, pecking him a couple more times. "Blue eyes, freckles, sporty, great with animals. Likes to get naked in the bathroom with tall, pale and silent cowboys." Vaughn snorted at the last bit, though I could see he'd actually been a tiny bit worried before I got to it. "But you didn't answer my question. What are you doing here? It's a Friday night."

"I know what day it is, Chels." I pouted slightly and drew away from him.

"Stop avoiding the question." He laughed and pulled back, taking my hand and hefting a large bag onto his free shoulder.

"Well I know we've done it all a bit backwards," he started as we walked over to where Celia was towelling off Hugh's feet with the towel I'd brought in case he got in the sea, "gettin' a dog before you gave me a key to your house, then gettin' a kid only about a month or so later with my ex-colleague moving to the island before I did…" He pulled me to a stop just before we reached them. "but I was wonderin' what you thought about getting a second permanent housemate?"

My heart soared and a grin split my face in two. "You better not have brought me another stray, Vaughn." I warned teasingly and he laughed. I flung myself around his neck again and he staggered under my weight and his bag. "You mean it? You're moving to the island?"

"Just finished doin' my two weeks' notice," He nodded. "and everything from my old apartment is here." I felt him shrug the bag under my arm demonstratively.

"Oh you fool, I could have prepared something special if you'd told me!" I pulled back and kissed him again, grinning as Hugh noticed this time and said a singular loud 'ew!' to make his point.

"Now where would the surprise be in that?" He replied, pulling away from me again and dragging us over to Celia – who was beaming; this must have been what she and Vaughn were hiding from me – and Hugh who was still trying to get his point across by sticking his tongue out and pulling pained faces.

"Guess what?" I asked him and he stopped with the expressions and looked at me curiously. "Vaughn's going to be moving in with us!" I couldn't stop smiling and I felt like this must be how Hugh felt all day every day – overfilled with excitement.

"For _real_?!" He yelled, jumping out of Celia's grasp and getting sand between his toes again. He practically attacked Vaughn as he jumped at the man, but he just chuckled and swung Hugh up into his arms; the boy koala bear hugging him around the torso. I tutted and took the towel from Celia and moved behind Vaughn to get at the sand between the boy's toes as Vaughn confirmed his moving.

"Sure am." He drawled to Hugh's delight. "Hope you don't mind sharing Chelsea with me." Hugh giggled from a combination of his words, pure joy and me tickling his feet.

"This is so cool!" He said to himself before going quiet and ducking his head into the crook of Vaughn's neck. His blue eyes peeked at me over my cowboy's shoulder and I could see he was blushing slightly, having grown uncharacteristically shy. "Does this mean we're gonna be like a proper family now?" he asked and I melted, smiling up at him.

"If that's what you want, then yes." I assured him. Of course I wanted us to be a proper family, but I didn't want to pressure the little guy into it – he still got down every now and then about his birth family, let alone his previous family with Celia and her parents and how that all fell through. I knew he still cared for them and didn't want him to feel guilty about wanting to replace them or anything. Hugh poked his head further from Vaughn's shoulder and smiled this personal little happy smile that made me curse Celia's mum at how she could ever think to abandon such a beautiful boy. I smiled in reply and Celia joined me with his socks and shoes, putting them on his feet before he could get all sandy again.

"Thanks Chelsea!" Hugh called, cheery again. "This is gonna be _so_ much fun!" He said to Vaughn, leaning back in the man's arms to look at his face. Celia snapped the last piece of Velcro in place and Vaughn pulled his hat off and plopped it on Hugh's head before letting him down on the ground. "I can go to the jungle way more if you're always gonna be here!" he chattered to Vaughn as we all made our way back to West town.

"I can see Vaughn and I having a lot less time together." I said good naturedly to Celia as we walked behind the other two; Hugh holding Vaughn's hand and talking a mile a minute.

"I'm happy to take him off your hands for a while if you ever need any alone time." She said, sending me a worried side glance and I laughed and shook my head.

"We knew what we were doing when we took him on, don't worry." I reassured her. "Besides, I'm not quite sure what we'd do with all our spare time if we didn't have Hugh there. We're not used to being able to take our time with things. Not having to cram everything into three days will take a lot of getting used to."

"So long as you're sure." She replied kindly. It was my turn to send her a sideways look.

"You know you never have to ask our permission or anything if you want to take him out for the day, right?" I asked, "You're his sister, if you want to spend some sibling time with him then do it, don't wait for us to ask you to babysit." She smiled at me gently.

"I know, Chelsea. I don't feel like you've kidnapped him and are holding him prisoner from me." I grinned sheepishly. "He's in good hands, and he's incredibly happy. I get to see him as much as I want to, whilst also being able to go home to some peace when I need it. I've no complaints." We'd reached the road outside Mirabelle's and we all paused to say goodbye. "Now you be good, young man." She said, turning to Hugh, who stuck his tongue out at her.

"I always am." He sneered, still pulling a face. She rolled her eyes fondly and said goodbye to us before making her way to East town. We continued to the farm, Hugh in between Vaughn and I, clutching our hands so he could swing off the ground.

It was late when we got back, so I sent Hugh off to bed and went out to the barn and coop to check the doors were locked like I did every night. On my return I found a very pleased looking cowboy sat on the sofa with two mugs of hot chocolate steaming on the coffee table in front of him.

"Hey, you." I greeted, plonking myself down next to him and burrowing under his arm until he moved it around my shoulders. He dropped a kiss on my head with a snort and I grinned. "I can't believe you didn't tell me you were moving."

"Are you not happy with it?" He asked, stroking my arm with his one wrapped around me.

"Don't be cute." I scolded him. "Of course I'm bloody happy. Ecstatic. I just had no warning, is all. It makes it really hard to believe that this is real; that you're actually here to stay."

"Well ya gots a lifetime to get used to it." He teased, gripping me hard suddenly and tugging me over him so I was straddled over his lap. "I've not seen this dress before." He commented, running his hands up my thighs to the rucked up skirt of my outfit.

"You like it?" I asked, tucking some stray hairs behind his ear. "Lanna made it for me a month or so ago, but I've not had a chance to wear it yet."

"It's very…spring themed." He compromised and I smiled. It was a pretty dress in my mind; made of pale yellows and pinks, but I could see how Vaughn might struggle with Lanna's penchant for vibrancy. There was a lot of it, and my cowboy wasn't known for his adventurous use of colours. He still knew how to negotiate his opinions though, something which the boys back home had no idea how to do.

"You're a very wise man." I replied mysteriously and he looked confused, but pleased at the compliment nonetheless.

"You know what wise men do when they move in with their girlfriends?" He asked and I slid myself further onto his lap, my dress riding up more as I moved my hands to fiddle with his shirt buttons, casually running my fingers under the fabric as I plucked them open.

"Get naked with them?" I replied innocently and he smiled at me, pale mauve eyes glinting in the low lighting. It had been a while since we'd last had sex. We weren't the type of couple who'd jump each other at every chance they got, but equally with Hugh in the house it had happened a bit less frequently than we'd been aiming for.

"I was gonna say drink the hot chocolates they made said girlfriends," I snorted. _Bullshit_. "but getting naked works too." I rolled my eyes and abandoned his three quarters undone shirt to twist and grab the mugs, tipping my head back to chug mine as I thrust the other in his general direction. He raised his eyebrow, but took it obediently and took a few large gulpfuls before plucking my empty one out my hand and dropping them on the end table. I was about to slide off him to go to our room, but he quickly gripped my bum and pulled me into him before standing up, forcing me to cling to him as I was carried as he had Hugh earlier…the only difference being, of course, that whilst Hugh had hidden in Vaughn's neck, I was busy kissing it.

~.oOo.~

Two days later and the date of Julia and Elliot's wedding had dawned. Turns out they'd both known about Vaughn moving back and had purposefully pushed the date back to a time when he'd be here. They couldn't hold it without him seeing as Elliot had – partly through fear of the man and partly through having no close male friends on the island, though he occasionally chatted to Pierre – made my boyfriend his best man.

At the start of the ceremony, as best man and maid of honour, Vaughn and I were waiting at the front of the line to enter the church. Jules had decided she wanted to foot the procession rather than head it, so Natalie and Pierre stood behind me – something which I found amusing considering the redhead's initial interest in the chef. I'm pretty sure she'd got over it but she still had no idea about him and Denny being together. Lanna stood by herself as no one really knew Shea and he wouldn't have wanted to come anyway, and then Julia stood looking glorious all in white.

"I can't believe they're getting married." I murmured as we waited for the doors to open. "They've only been together a few weeks longer than we have. They hit their 7 month anniversary today."

"If they're ready, they're ready." Vaughn shrugged. "My parents never got married. I don't think my Dad even stuck around long enough to see my sonogram." I hummed.

"To be fair, my parents got married after only dating each other for two years. I guess it's just strange to me because our generation tends to wait longer nowadays."

"Girls back home for me get married and pregnant at 16." Vaughn replied.

"Girls back home for me are still in school at 16 and aren't likely to get married til after uni at 21 minimum."

" _All_ of 'em?" Vaughn asked, surprised.

"Mostly." I replied frowning, and shook my head at his questioning gaze, putting a smile on my face as the music started up and the doors were pulled open in front of us. Show time.

The ceremony was sweet in a sort of 'we don't have more than 7 months of memories of being together, one month of that being when we were broken up' way, but like Vaughn said, I guess; 'if they're ready, they're ready.' He and I were sat down in the front pew with the other bridesmaids and groomsmen. Denny had made sure to sit in the pew behind us to be as close to Pierre as possible as for reasons unknown to me Elliot hadn't asked him to be in the procession. The spouses-to-be were currently exchanging vows and I was smiling faintly as I indulged myself in a little bit of carefree imagination, seeing myself and Vaughn all dolled up and declaring to the island how we were head over heels for each other and always would be.

Hugh came up to present one ring and Charlie joined him with the second ring and I felt Vaughn lean in close to my ear to whisper something.

"Do you think that could be us someday?" he asked me and I was shocked to hear the mention of marriage come from him. I'd always thought it would be me breaking those sorts of ices.

"If not then fate has a whole lot of explaining to do." I replied in confirmation, leaning my head against his shoulder and looping my arms around one of his. He snorted in laughter and moved his arm from my grip to drape it round my shoulders and pull me in closer to his side.

"If fate's got an issue with it then I say fate can fuck off and we can do whatever we want." He still sounded a bit unsure of whether my previous statement had been a yes or a no, so I looked up at him and clarified.

"I want." He peeked down at me and his eyes crinkled as he smiled.

"Yeah?"

"Definitely." I paused then added quietly, "I wouldn't be able to wear white though." Vaughn had to press his face into my hair to stop from his laughter being audible.

"Darlin', you could wear that onesie of yours and I'd still marry ya." He murmured when he'd collected himself and I smiled to myself before jumping as everyone around us started clapping. I refocused on the ceremony to see Julia beaming with tears in her eyes and Elliot looking pleased but also like he was about to faint. They moved to exit the church with Eliza running ahead of them carrying a basket full of flower petal confetti to throw as they crossed the threshold outside. Vaughn and I leapt up to follow them, holding hands as we went and unable to wipe the grins from our faces.

~.oOo.~

The next day saw Vaughn rising early with a yawn and a speedily gulped down breakfast before heading off to Mirabelle's. Julia and Elliot were jet-setting off to the mainland that day to catch their flight to Paris for their honeymoon, and for the week they were away Vaughn had agreed to take over her role at Mirabelle's. Considering how I was their only customer, I predicted he was going to have a pretty easy time of it. Let's say my big toe was telling me so.

Having him off the farm so early made me realise how much I'd come to lean on him for my morning chores, though having Hugh around was a big help. With all the success the farm had been having and with Hugh and Vaughn around all the time, I hadn't noticed when running it all had become more than a one person job.

I spent most of the morning dealing with the fields as Hugh looked after the greenhouse crops before moving on to the barn to play with Mara and Lola – the concept of which I _still_ found too bizarre to believe. As I moved through to the chickens and did my daily rounds with them, I made a mental note to go visit Vaughn at work and see about getting the two knocked up; I couldn't employ Hugh to live in the barn for 8 hours a day.

"Chelseeeeeea!" I heard before something small and ginger glomped onto me around my waist. "Can I go see Celia before school, please, please, please?" Hugh asked me, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I've done all my chores!"

I smiled at the little guy. He really did remind me a lot of Deimos – he'd taken to a proper routine like a duck to water. Back in the city, he'd had a routine in terms of when he was at home versus when he was in school, but within that his home life had been very unstructured. His primary care giver would be whoever wasn't working that night and he'd never really experienced any form of consistency.

"Of course you can, honey. Just go wash your hands and face quickly first, you're wearing more soil than the crops!" Hugh laughed and whooped before running off inside and I heard the clattering of him pulling a stool up to the kitchen sink and the running of water.

Stretching, I moved over to the fence surrounding the small grazing area outside my coop and perched on it as I surveyed my farm. It had nearly been a year since I had crash landed onto this island and so much had changed in my life. I'd never forget the lives of those who didn't make it, but I couldn't find it in myself to regret a single bit of what had happened in the past 12 months. I had an amazing job looking after my beautiful home on a paradisal island with a wonderful, kind and sexy boyfriend. We had two gorgeous strays together, one of which meant that no two days were ever the same and that every day was filled with energy. Back in London, my every day had been monotonous and about trying to make ends meet one paycheque to the next and now I woke up every day excited to live it.

I saw Hugh fly out the house and off the farm in the distance, little feet taking him a mile a minute off to East town.

"Right Deimos." I said as I stood, feeling a bit weird about being completely on my own – it didn't happen often anymore and I can't believe 90% of my time used to be in just my own company. "Let's go have some lunch and then we can go visit Vaughn and see what can be done about those bloody animals." The little dog yipped at me from where he was lying at my feet and stood up to run off to the house.

~.oOo.~

\- Vaughn -

Moving to the island permanently was proving to be the best decision I'd ever made – aside from perhaps agreeing with Mike and Aunt Bella that I'd do the whole long-distance commute twice a week to the island in the first place. Having to get up and go to work in Jules's stead was a bit of a bore but at the same time, I think it helped Chels and I settle in to the idea that I wasn't leaving again. It hadn't yet been a full week since I moved in with Chelsea and Hugh and it still hadn't quite sunk in that I didn't have to get on a boat any time soon. This was it, I was here now, living my life in full instead of in three day snippets each week. I'd wake up every day next to my favourite girl, have a family breakfast around the dining table, ruffle Hugh's hair, give Chels a kiss and then be off back to Aunt Bella's for the day. Come the evenings, I'd help Chels out with dinner, chat with her and Hugh about their days, help settle the kid and then spend the last few hours of the night relaxing with the woman I love.

Admittedly, there wasn't much to do at Aunt Bella's. Chels and I had talked about getting Mara and Lola hitched and I'd put a call in with Mike who was going to send my replacement over next week with the gear to do the honours. After that, I basically helped Aunt Bella with the housework more than anything. Yeah me, cleaning the house. Go figure. Half a year ago I wouldn't have lifted a finger to do a thing, but being with Chels had taught me to be nice for the sake of being nice sometimes – or at least with family. Having Hugh around was helping me sympathise with how my aunt must have felt about me as a lil' thing, and the thought of Hugh growing up to be a dick to me made me feel ten shades of horrible. So I was tryin' more now. The rest of the time I was out back in the barn, just chillin' with the animals, enjoying their soothing presence and lack of conversation.

Halfway through the week dawned my 27th birthday. Aunt Bella had insisted that she didn't need me at all that day and Celia had taken Hugh off us the night before, so Chels and I had a nice relaxed morning and greeted the day in the bedroom in the best of ways. She'd got me a couple of outfits that she and Lanna had worked on together whilst I'd still been working in the city. 'Comfort-wear that's not a cowboy outfit' she'd told me as she handed them over, and I had to admit they were pretty nice quality. And each one had a neckerchief to match for when I left the house. By this stage, my neckerchief was something that came off with my hat whenever I got home. Hugh had asked about it a while ago when I'd been visiting and he'd seen the scar, but he accepted my 'operation as a kid' reason pretty easily.

"It feels like old times again." Chels said as she stirred the porridge in the pan on her hob. I was stood behind her, arms wrapped around her waist with my chin on her head. She'd refused to let me help with anything on account of what day it was, but that didn't mean I had to sit on the other side of the room from her. Didn't mean I had to make it easy for her to wait on me either.

"Mm?" I responded, distracted by the feeling of having her in my arms and the knowledge that I didn't have to let go, ever (metaphorically speaking).

"Just us two here, making breakfast, thinking about what we're going to do with our free day together. I keep expecting you to have to grab your bag and jump on the first boat out of here." I nuzzled my nose into her hair as she switched off the hob and poured the porridge into two bowls, humming contentedly.

"Don't ever have to do that again, darlin'." I reassured her. "Not without you by my side." I let her go as we moved over to the table and sat down. "You findin' it alright with both Hugh and me here?" I ventured, drizzling honey over my breakfast.

"Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, I don't have any issues with our situation." Chelsea replied, smiling across the table at me and I momentarily got distracted from my food by her ocean-deep eyes. "I love Hugh and I love you so having you both with me all the time is wonderful. It's just nice to get some adult time as well, you know?" She gestured to the pretty skimpy dressing gown she was wearing – something Lanna had given her I think she said – one of those ones that showed more skin than it had material. Not that I was complaining.

"Mmmm, I sure do." I hummed appreciatively, eyes sliding up and down her form as I took in her exposed collarbones and the patch of skin that swept down between her breasts. A wicked smile spread across her face.

"Well we got chores to do, cowboy, but the bedroom's open all day." I guzzled the rest of my breakfast and swept around the table to scoop her out of her chair as she squeaked in surprise.

"Let's hop to it then, darlin', time's a-ticking." And I carried her outside into the warm spring air to deal with the farm; her giggling herself silly in her skimpy-ass dressing gown, me grinning from ear to ear in my boxers. I couldn't remember a better birthday of my life.

~.oOo.~

"I don't know if we should be doing anything to Julia's room." Aunt Bella worried four days later. Jules and Elliot were due back the next day and I couldn't wait for her return. Doing her job was as dull as bricks and I knew I could be doing more if I helped out on the farm. Chels had been talking to Gannon about getting some beehives set up and I knew she was wanting to clear a space for a small apiary section but was having to concentrate on expanding the barn so both Lola and Mara could have room for their kids. I was really starting to see the farm as my proper home that I part owned and I was excited to see how far we could take it with two of us full-time dedicated to it. Even though I knew that legally I didn't own a dime, with Chels referring to everything as "we" and "ours", I was really beginning to view myself as a co-rancher and I knew Chels did too, legalities be damned.

"What do you mean?" I asked my aunt as I sat on her living room floor, fixing a support in one of her chairs that had broken a while ago. I'd been doing a lot of random handyman stuff around the house because, as I said, Jules's job was _boring_. I was looking forward to getting the chance to spend my days doing similar things for Chels on the ranch, instead.

"Well, she'll be back tomorrow with Elliot," My aunt started, frowning lightly over her cup of tea. "and I don't know what their living situation is going to be. Are they both moving in here, or are they moving in with Felicia or are they planning on living separately for a bit and then moving or are they going to get a house together somewhere else...?" I blinked at her. I hadn't even thought of those sorts of technicalities. Chels and I had just moved in together so naturally that I'd forgotten that most of the other couples on the island weren't in a similar position. And both Jules and Elliot still lived in their parents' houses, which made it all the more difficult.

"I guess you'll just have to ask her." I shrugged, returning my attention to the chair. "No point doin' nothin' to her room 'til we know for sure."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." She sighed, taking a sip of her tea. We returned to companionable silence and I started to day-dream about being back on the farm, teaching Hugh how to chop wood and build beehives until she interrupted again. "You and Chelsea are doing well, living together then?" She asked in a failed tone of innocence and the whole conversation made sense. I sighed internally and remembered my vow to myself to be kind to her.

' _Think of Hugh, Vaughn, think of Hugh.'_

"Yup." I replied, popping the 'p'. Okay, so maybe I couldn't control my annoyance all that well, but I was trying.

"I mean, you _moved_ here for her, so things _must_ be going well..." she trailed off, hinting at me to fill the silence.

I didn't.

"And with little Hugh around, you must really feel like a proper family..." More silence. "So how long do you reckon you're going to keep your current situation as is?" She finally asked, and this time I sighed audibly.

"Chels and I have only been together for 6 months, Aunt Bella." I replied, turning the chair the right way up and putting it back at the table she was sat at. "We've only just moved in together and we're both puttin' all our focus into the farm and seein' Hugh get raised right. We're happy with things as they are right now." Aunt Bella looked a lil' bit disappointed, but I could see she wasn't going to push the topic and I felt my hackles fall. "Y'all just concentrate on Jules for now, okay?" I asked with a teasing smile and she smiled back at me, eyes crinkling with crow's feet.

"I'll always have my attention shared equally between the two of you." She replied seriously, and a wave of affection came over me for this woman who raised me for nearly half my life.

"I know." I said as I gave her a very quick hug before coughing and pulling back. "Anyway, anything else need fixin' round here?" I asked, blushing and I went off to have a look at a cupboard hinge that she pointed at, ignoring her suspiciously wet eyes and ridiculous smile.

~.oOo.~

"Sweet freedom!" I cried out as I flopped on the couch on the evening of the 11th. Jules and Elliot had returned that day and I was finally dismissed from Aunt Bella's. "Y'all really need to give them more custom, Chels, it's absolutely dead in there these days." I called out over the arm of the couch to Chelsea who was sitting at the kitchen table, poring over a little map she'd drawn of the farm. The girl was tryna figure out how to landscape the whole thing with a bigger barn and an apiary section, and she was even thinking of starting up some sort of textiles mill. She wanted a section for an orchard as well where she could grow fruit trees and have berry bushes climbing up trellises. My girl knew how to dream big, and even better she knew how to make those dreams happen.

"Why would I give them any custom now?" She asked me distractedly. "I got the cowboy I went there for and I'm not in the market for another." I grinned and got up from the couch, moving to give her a hug and a shoulder rub.

"I should hope not, cowgirl." I murmured, peering over her shoulder at her map. She'd cut out lots of little figures to represent the things she wanted to add and was sliding them around the paper thoughtfully. "You should still be kind to their banks though, they're family now." I teased and she turned her head to beam at me – brighter than I'd been expecting to receive.

"Careful Partner; that was almost a proposal." She teased back and I felt my cheeks go pink as I missed a beat in the massage I was giving her.

"Well," I coughed, "when that happens I'll sure as heck do it better than sticking a feather in a fucking cake." She snorted but gave me a reprimanding look at the language as she gestured towards Hugh's room with a tilt of her head. The kid had been in bed for an hour now, so he was almost definitely dead to the world for the next 10 hours, but I rolled my eyes playfully at her anyway. I gave her shoulder a final squeeze and let go to reach over to her map. "Put these in here." I said as I moved the berry bushes into the greenhouse. "We can expand the greenhouse if we need to and then we can put the orchard down here..." I arranged the trees in little rows to the side of the field, "and we can get a little bench that can go at the end of them all and overlook the cliffs and ocean and the apiary can go slightly to the left at the other end so they're near the orchard..." I moved the bees and beehives to the opposite end of the tree line to where I thought the bench could go, "and then we can have your textile mill down by the windmill...here." I pushed the final figure into place and stood back to look at it all.

"I love you." Chels said as she slipped out her seat and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Did you even realise that you were saying 'we' throughout all of that?" I hadn't, actually, but I wasn't surprised by it.

"My whole life's here, Chels, with you, with this farm, with Hugh and Deimos and all your fucked up animals." I said to her, looking her in the eyes so she could see I was serious. "If I'm not part of a 'we' here then I don't think I ever will be."

"You are." She said, kissing me softly, "we are. And your plan of the farm looks perfect, we can start on it tomorrow." The kisses continued through to the bedroom where they turned into yawns and eventually deep breathing as the sun set on the prequel to the rest of my life on the island.

 **Chapter End.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N** **: Trigger warning applies.**

 **Chapter 12.**

\- Chelsea -

The next day, I was finishing up in the fields watering my crops as Vaughn battled with the livestock. I really hoped that one of the new children would be cheerier, for Gwen's and Alexa's sakes. Hugh had already whizzed his way through the greenhouse and was currently running around playing fetch with Deimos by the farmhouse. I needn't have ever worried about the pup's reaction to Hugh – they had instantly connected and now Deimos was more his dog than he was Vaughn or mine's really.

"Chelsea!" I heard his voice cry and I stood up on my tip toes to see him waving at me from over the top of the cucumber stalks. "There's people!" He yelled and pointed to the entrance to the farm. I saw four figures looking slightly uncertain as they entered and I rubbed my hands quickly on my denims to brush off some of the dirt, grabbed my harvesting basket and carefully climbed out of the field.

"Hi!" I called out and waved towards them as I drew closer. "I'm Chelsea, the farmer here. How can I help you?" I found myself faced with a frail looking woman with pink eyes and hair that had been dyed to match wearing a huge sunhat. _Albino_ my mind supplied like it had eight months ago when I met Vaughn. Next to her was a man that looked slightly older than her with strawberry blond hair and glasses. Clutching his hand was an adorable girl who looked to be around Hugh's age with freckles, bright green eyes and the same coloured hair as the man. Standing slightly behind the pink-haired woman was another woman with brown hair and green eyes. Blonde highlights streaked through her hair. On her shoulder was a large bag with a stencil of a chicken and cow on the side.

"Hi!" The man replied cheerily. "I'm Rick, this is my sister Popuri, wife Karen and Lisette our daughter." They all nodded and smiled at their names. "We're here from the city, Mike said something about a cow and a sheep...?"

"Oh perfect!" I beamed, "this way, this way, you have _no_ idea how excited we've been about this – we really think it's going to solve a lot of our problems here!" I laughed as we moved into the barn. My cowboy was currently cussing and kicking the post of a feeding trough as Mara and Lola huddled in the corner, looking at him reproachfully. " _Fucking_ bitches." He was hissing under his breath, "Just won't fucking _eat_."

"Vaughn! The solution to all our troubles is here." I called out over the top of his cursing, sending a concerned look towards Lisette. I needn't have worried though, the blonde girl was completely distracted by Deimos who had run in to see what all the hubbub was about and was currently yipping around her heels making enough noise that she'd missed the cuss. Rick and Karen were frowning at him however, and I sent an apologetic look towards them. "Sorry, we're really at the end of our tether with those two. It takes up most of our mornings each day just to get them to eat enough to be healthy. We think they're broody and that having something to look after would help." Hugh appeared in the doorway, forcing Lisette to take a step into the room and both of them fell into the eye line of Lola and Mara. The cow and sheep immediately started ambling over and nuzzled Hugh as he got up to them, taking the fodder straight from his hands easy as anything.

Popuri started giggling. "I can see why you need our help." She laughed and even Karen cracked a smile as she shrugged off her bag.

"Right then, let's get on with it." Rick said brusquely and I took my cue to shoo Hugh and Deimos out the barn, leaving Vaughn behind to help.

"Lisette, why don't you join Chelsea?" I heard Karen say behind me and then the little blonde girl appeared by my side outside.

"Hi Lisette." I smiled at her kindly. "This is Hugh." I introduced. She smiled brightly and waved a hello to my little guy who seemed to have been struck dumb by her presence. I coughed and Hugh went bright red in the face and started stammering out a greeting.

"Hello, err, hi I mean, I'm Hugh, I'm 9 and I live here, um, how do you do um..."

"Do you like chickens, Lisette?" I asked, putting Hugh out of his misery.

"Oh yes, miss!" She replied enthusiastically. "Daddy and Auntie Poppy have always had chickens around. I even hatched some!"

"Woah." Hugh breathed as he stared wide-eyed at the girl, embarrassment forgotten. "You _hatched_ some?" He asked and Lisette giggled and nodded.

"Lots and lots. My daddy sells them."

"Can _we_ do that Chelsea?" He asked turning to me.

"Give it a couple of months for us to get some other stuff sorted, but I'm sure we could find the room for another little chick." I winked at him and he beamed. Maybe I spoilt the kid, but it's not like he ever asked for anything unreasonable.

"Yes!" He fist-pumped the air. "C'mon Lisette, I'll show you our chickens." He said, grabbing her hand and leading her next door to the coop.

"I'll be over the east side guys, come find me when you're done, they might be a while in the barn!" I cried out and heard a vague affirmative from Hugh that the wind carried away. Smiling to myself, I moved over to the patch of soil I was currently working on. According to the plan that Vaughn had put together last night, it was right around where the bench we wanted would go and I thought it'd be nice to have some flowers planted around the area for us to sit amongst. I'd found some local ones and gently uprooted them before replanting them here, but I also had various seeds and bulbs to plant. I was on my knees, gently patting the soil down around a little cluster of toy flowers I'd picked when Hugh came crashing down next to me, Lisette following delicately at his heels.

"Did you guys have fun?" I asked, amused at Hugh's flushed face and shit-eating grin.

"Lisette knows _so much_ about chickens!" He said and I saw the girl blush behind him. "It's so _cool_."

"Well I hope she taught you some things then." I said and winked at the girl who smiled and moved over to my side.

"Are you planting flowers, miss?" She asked politely, though I could see how her eyes lit up at the sight of them.

"Yes, Vaughn and I have some pretty big plans for the farm in the coming months, and I thought I'd get a start on it all early. I'm turning this whole patch here into a little field of flowers." I held up a packet of seeds to both of them. "Do you want to help?"

"Yes please!" Lisette cried out happily and Hugh – who had been in the process of snorting and rolling his eyes – sat up and eagerly took a packet.

"I'll help, too!" He all but yelled. "I'm real good at growing things, Lisette, I basically look after the stuff in the greenhouse all by myself." I hid my smile by turning back to the toy flowers. I always took the time to go over the greenhouse and do the things that he missed every day, but I let him have his moment. Lisette was staring at him slightly star struck.

The two of them chattered as they did about 10% planting and 90% talking. I circuited around getting most of the work done, smiling to myself at Hugh making a friend. He got on well with Charlie, but with Eliza being the way she was, I think there was always some underlying tension between the two boys.

After about half an hour I heard laughter and turned around, surprised to see Vaughn smiling and chatting easily to Popuri as Rick sent glares his way and Karen stormed off ahead of the group, looking kind of pissed off. What on earth had happened in the barn?

"Everything go well?" I asked, standing up and rubbing my hands free of dirt as they neared. Vaughn moved over to me and dropped a kiss on top of my head before hooking an arm around my waist, soothing the little green monster in my chest that I had been trying to ignore.

"Smoothly as it could with those two." He said and I was pretty sure he wasn't just talking about Mara and Lola. "These guys are hanging around for a while, so they'll come and check up on things and see if they were successful later."

"Oh!" I replied, pleased to know that Lisette would be around for Hugh. "How long are you staying for? Don't you have to get back to Mike in the city?" I asked the group.

"We're actually from a town just outside the main city," Rick replied, begrudgingly. "I'm not solely employed by Mike, but I help him out with a couple of things and spend a fair amount of time in the city for work."

"He stays at my boyfriend's place!" Popuri interjected cheerily. Could she not read the mood in the air or was she just so used to it that she'd given up acknowledging it at all?

"Unfortunately, yes." Rick sneered and Popuri seemed to deflate the tiniest amount.

"Kai's never been anything but wonderful to both me _and_ you, Rick." She said quietly and Rick went red in the face. He opened his mouth to reply but Karen talked loudly over the top of him.

"We thought we'd make a proper trip out of this and hang around for a while, make sure everything goes well with the breeding and all." She said, sending Rick a glare. "So we're staying at the hotel for the next month and having a nice _stress-free_ holiday." Her eyes didn't leave Rick the whole time she was speaking and I shifted uncomfortably in Vaughn's hold. God it was awkward.

"Right well. It seems like Lisette and Hugh get along really well, so it'd be nice if they could hang out again whilst you're here?" I ventured into the atmosphere.

"I'm not sure that would be –" Rick started before Karen interrupted,

"Of course!" she said, smiling genuinely at me, "It's so nice to see her making friends, it can be tough for her back home." She sent a meaningful look back at Rick who was frowning at her. He gestured for her to step aside with him and they moved a couple paces away and started having a heated interaction of some sort.

"Are you sure, Karen? We've only just met these people!" I heard him say and she hissed at him to lower his voice before firmly ending the conversation by walking back towards us. Throughout it all, Popuri stood to the side, looking worried and Vaughn and I just exchanged glances.

"We _both_ think it'd be _lovely_ for Lisette to come back and play. This is an amazing environment for a child and I think she'd have a really good time, if you'd be okay with having her over." She said strongly.

"Oh Mommy, I can come back here?" A little voice piped up and I saw that Lisette and Hugh had re-joined us from where they'd been sprinkling seeds. "It's _so_ much fun here with Hugh and Chelsea!" Karen sent another meaningful look at Rick and smiled at her daughter.

"Of course, sweetheart, if Chelsea and Vaughn are okay with it." She looked to me.

"Yes, of course!" I replied, smiling. "Lisette is a very polite young woman and I think Hugh would enjoy having her around again." At this, Hugh blushed and scuffed his shoes in the grass.

"She's cool, I guess." He said, embarrassed.

"We have a memorial service taking place on the island tomorrow, but how about on Friday? The 15th?" I asked.

"Perfect! We'll see you then. Come on then, let's go unpack our things." Karen said and smiled at us before turning and leaving with Rick storming ahead this time.

"Sorry about them." Popuri said quietly as she moved to leave, too. "It was lovely to meet you both." She smiled.

"You, too." Vaughn replied. "See you around, yeah?"

"Yeah, see you!" Popuri smiled and then left, trotting after her family.

' _Wow.'_ I mouthed to Vaughn. Aloud I said, "Alright you two, lunchtime!" And Hugh took off at a run towards the house, already listing off all the things he wanted to eat.

An hour later and Hugh took himself off to school. I walked back into the farmhouse having checked up on Lola and Mara (still as baleful as ever, but I suppose an immediate improvement was unreasonable to expect) to find Vaughn tidying up after lunch and I moved into the kitchen to wrap my arms around him from behind.

"So..." I started as he put the last plate away and turned around in my hold to face me. "Today was..."

He laughed shortly. "Yeah. Today was." We moved over to the sofa and collapsed back.

"I think I just need a little break to digest, and then we can get back out there." I said, laying an arm across my eyes. "God I hope they're not like that around Lisette. I mean, it's not my place to judge and I know we've got it easy with Hugh because we didn't have to do all the stressful stuff in the first 9 years, but that poor little girl to be in that atmosphere all the time."

"Let's never become like that." Vaughn said firmly, and I moved my arm off my eyes to look at him. He was looking at me seriously and I smiled at him.

"Cutie-pie." I teased, leaning up and pecking him on the nose. "I promise you that if you ever become anything like Rick, I'll dump your arse in a flash." He rolled his eyes at me.

"Thank you, that's exactly what I meant." He replied.

"I'm a mind-reader, what can I say?" I grinned and we settled down again. "You and Popuri were getting on well..." I hinted, not jealous anymore but still curious. Vaughn just wasn't usually that friendly to people.

"I could tell you were getting a lil' bit worked up in that head of yours." Vaugh groaned and I sat up to protest.

"I so was not!" I paused. "Well, okay, I _was_ but I'm not anymore! I'm just curious – you don't normally chat that well with new people."

"Well thanks for the vote of confidence." He sniped and I frowned.

"Vaughn come on, don't be like that." I reached out for his hand and he let me lace our fingers together with a sigh.

"Sorry." He muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose with his other hand. "It's just something I'm still kind of awkward about. Albinism. We started chatting cos we were both moaning about how bad the sun glare was and how grateful we were to be back inside the barn and I dunno. It's the first time I've met someone else who can understand first-hand what it's like for me day-to-day and it was nice having someone to talk to."

"Well I'm glad that they're all hanging around then. Seems like both you and Hugh have a friendship to form here." I smiled and Vaughn laughed.

"The kid is crushing so bad on that girl, I feel for the squirt." I blinked at him.

"He's nine! Nine year olds don't get crushes! Do they?" Vaughn just stared at me.

"You kiddin'? What about Charlie and Eliza? You never had a crush on a boy when you were a kid?" I blushed.

"Well, I had crushes on y'know, _celebrities_ and stuff. The blond guy from S Club 7 but he ended up being gay anyway... But I went to an all-girls' school, I didn't have boys around _to_ crush on." Vaughn was laughing throughout my speaking and I felt myself starting to pout against my will. "And I just thought Charlie and Eliza liked each other, not _like liked_ each other! Kids are possessive of their friends, y'know?"

"Trust me, kids get crushes." He chuckled. "They're not like crushes you get as a teenager or an adult, but they're as real to the kid as your own crushes are to you." His smile faded a bit and turned nostalgic. "Cass had already had a girlfriend before he died. The most they ever did was hold hands and share packets of animal crackers, and well, I thought it was gross at the time, but it was real to them. Of course they had to break up because she started holding hands with another boy in his year." I smiled at the story and at the fact that Vaughn was becoming more comfortable opening up about his childhood with me.

"Do I have any other women I need to worry about then?" I teased him and he snorted.

"I never saw the point in relationships – romantic or platonic – until I met you Chels, trust me, there ain't no skeletons in my closet." I didn't really know what to do with that, so I just cuddled up to him and we stayed like that for another half hour before I pulled myself from his grip and we headed back outside. Vaughn was being the manual-labour behind our vision and was sent off to clear the ways for our plans and I returned to my flower patch after checking up on the chickens myself.

~.oOo.~

\- Vaughn -

That night I walked Hugh down to Celia's.

"Thanks for doing this, Celia." I said as Hugh shot off to his sister's room with his overnight rucksack. "With it all going on tomorrow I just think it's better for Chels to have some space." The next day there was going to be a very small memorial service on the beach as it ticked over the 1 year mark of their arrival on the island. Chels had been doing really well ever since that typhoon last year, the Tina situation notwithstanding, but I wasn't really sure what sort of memories the whole thing might bring up for her.

"That's alright, you know I'm always happy to have him. I can't imagine what it'd be like to be in Chelsea's position." She smiled kindly at me. Celia had been doin' really well since she moved here. Last Chels had filled me in, she had a pretty solid group of friends now – I think Lanna was in there somewhere – and had even been on several dates. Definitely living up the life of a 24 year old. Every now and then I'd catch myself worrying that I was holding Chels back from all those sorts of experiences – she was only 20 and hadn't really had a chance to live that sort of carefree social life, but then I'd remind myself that this is _Chelsea_ and if she'd had any doubt about it at all, she would have spoken to me about it. 'Sides, I'd never lived that sort of life at 24 either, though maybe I wasn't the best comparison in the world to use...

"Siiiiiiis!" We heard a call from behind Celia and I smiled as I shook my head. The day that kid ran out of energy was the day the laws of physics broke.

"I'll leave you to it then." I said, tipping my hat down to her, mainly because I knew it made her laugh. She giggled, said her goodbyes and shut the door, already half turned to go see what Hugh wanted.

I spent the walk back to the farm thinking about how I'd never have known Hugh without Chelsea's positive influence on me, and I'd never have known something as simple as what made someone else laugh if she'd not pushed me to do something as simple as talk to my co-worker. I know I'd thrown it back in her face once, and I know she'd probably not be all that pleased to hear it for whatever crazy reasons she has, but that girl had changed me. For the better, for sure, but definitely changed me. I like to think of it as that I've grown with her since we got together, and she's brought nothing but positivity into my life since I literally fell into hers.

I got home to see her leaving the bathroom with a towel around her hair. I'd timed it all so that Hugh would be shepherded off whilst she was relaxing. She hadn't really said anything outright to me, but I knew she was nervous about tomorrow as well. It had been telling enough to me that she'd arranged for Lisette to come over on Friday instead of Thursday – giving herself a day off after the Memorial Day as well.

"Alright, darlin'?" I greeted as I untied my neckerchief and hung it up next to the hat I'd not bothered taking up on the post by the door.

"Yeah." She replied, slightly less enthusiastically than she normally would. "Where've you been? Has Hugh gone to bed?" I shrugged off my coat, hung that up and moved over to give her a hello kiss to the forehead.

"I took him over to Celia's." I said carefully, bending down to give Deimos a pat as he came to greet me. "She's gonna have him tonight and tomorrow. I thought it might be nice to let you relax a bit."

"Well I'm hardly going to be _relaxing_." She grouched, then caught herself and sighed. "Sorry, hon. Thanks for thinking of that." She gave me a peck on the lips then left to the bedroom to get ready for bed. I won't lie, I was a little bit deflated at her reaction – I knew she would be out of sorts for a little while over this, but I guess I was used to getting a very enthusiastic positive response when I did something thoughtful normally. It did reinforce my decision to take Hugh out of the situation though. I chucked my shoes off by the front door, went to the bathroom and then switched the lights off in the house as I moved through to the bedroom.

Chels was already curled up under the covers, reading through her diary by the soft light of her bedside lamp. She was pretty early on in the book, so I assumed she was reading over entries from around this time last year. I know she'd started writing it before I arrived to the island. I pulled off my clothes – some of the ones she gave me for my birthday – and folded them up neatly before climbing into bed myself. I didn't really know what to do with myself – if I should talk to her or not, if I should stay up or go to sleep or what. I settled on just laying down behind her and wrapping one arm around her waist, tugging her in close and burying my face in her damp hair so she didn't think I was snooping on her diary.

We laid like that for a while, until I actually started to drift off. I don't know how much time had passed before she reached up and switched her light off, tucking her diary back into her bedside table. Her movements roused me and I leant up to try to look at her in the dark. There was no light pollution out on the farm and with the blackout blinds when the lights were off it was really pitch black in the room.

"How you doin'?" I asked her softly and I felt her blindly tug me back down into a lying position. Her hands felt up my chest, to my neck and around my face until she'd oriented herself.

"Thank you." She replied, full of meaning, and shuffled over to kiss me firmly. I stroked the hair around her face away and tucked it behind her ear as we kissed.

"I love you." I said to her when she pulled back, and pressed another peck to her lips. "And I'm here if you need me."

"I love you, too." She murmured and kissed me again before shuffling in tight to my chest and laying her head down to sleep. I stared at the ceiling in the dark for a long time to make sure she'd fallen asleep before shutting my own eyes.

~.oOo.~

\- Chelsea -

I was dreading today. I'd been dreading it for the last couple of days since I clocked on to the date properly after tracking Julia's and Elliot's honeymoon dates. In all honesty, I didn't want to go to the service. I feel like I remembered those who lost their lives often enough that I didn't need a day set aside in the calendar to do it. I knew no one would really judge me if I didn't go, and Vaughn would scare off those who did for me, but I was the island's farmer, I was the main source of income and produce and I was on the island's committee with Taro, Gannon and Chen. I _had_ to go, and never before had I hated being in a position of responsibility so much.

The ceremony was thankfully starting at 9AM and wasn't meant to go on for much more than fifteen minutes, which meant most of my morning was used up doing chores around the farm. There was so much to get done with all our plans that I didn't run out of things to do all the way up until I had to stop to get ready to go. Vaughn was walking on eggshells around me slightly, and whilst I hated that, I also understood it. I myself wasn't sure how I was going to be today – if I'd be fine or get triggered by something, if I'd cry a bit and get a bit sad but be fine by bedtime or if this would send me off into a spiral for the next couple of weeks. He'd sorted breakfast for us this morning and had even gone so far as to lay out an appropriate outfit for me. I guess I must have been really obvious in how out of it I was, for him to think me incapable of doing even that. I was grateful though, I pretty much was incapable of doing it. I didn't want to put too much thought into anything in case it built up an association with the event – y'know; spend too long choosing my clothes and associate that particular skirt with remembering dead people.

We got to the beach shortly before it started and I wasn't surprised to see only the true locals of the island gathered in the chairs that had been laid out. I saw the other committee members gathered at the front on seats that faced the crowd and realised I was probably meant to sit with them to show solidarity or something. Vaughn moved to go with me, glaring at the questioning glance he got from Chen, but I shook my head at him.

"I love you and thank you. But I can't lean on you for everything. I'm a big girl, I can manage this." I told him, sounding a lot stronger than I felt. But I'd made it through disaster and tragedy before I even knew Vaughn, I could do this now. It was only fifteen minutes.

"You sure?" He asked me and I smiled weakly at him.

"Sit in the front row?" I compromised and he nodded, dropping a kiss to my lips as he moved back down to the main audience area.

"Don't worry, Chelsea." Taro said, appearing at my shoulder. "I'm doing all the talking for all of us." He smiled at me and I almost collapsed with relief as I fell into the chair behind me. "Let's do this then." The old man said and moved to stand directly in front of the small crowd that had gathered.

"Hello and good morning to you all!" He called out and the quiet conversation in the audience hushed. "And what a good morning it is," he continued. "Today, March 13th, is a good day here on the island. The sun is shining, the island is blooming. We have a large tourism industry, massive exports to the city thanks to the hard work of our farmer, our fishermen, our chefs, our miners...business is booming indeed! Every day we get new people visiting, new people appreciating the beauty of our home, new people learning our short history. And it all began this day, a year ago. This day a year ago, the sun was not shining and the island was barren apart from a few dilapidated abandoned buildings. This day a year ago, twelve crew members and passengers of a small boat tour from the mainland perished as a storm hit us in open water. Twelve people that we had known and interacted with; that had served us food and drink; that had taken family photos for us; that had helped us with our luggage – all snuffed in a swell of the sea. This day a year ago, the evening was spent salvaging what we could from the ocean's clasps and giving an appropriate send-off to those who had died. Tonight, your evenings can be spent having dinner with friends and family, going for strolls along the various coastlines we have, watching a movie in our cinema. This rock that lies behind me represents all that was lost that day. For many of us, that loss has blossomed into a life that we couldn't find elsewhere, but for those who knew and loved those who passed, it has carved something permanent into their lives. It is our responsibility, us who succeed off the backs of this tragedy, to remember those who died and pay remembrance to their sacrifice. So I would like to propose a minute's silence to think on those who travelled to this island with us but did not survive to see the paradise we have turned it into.

Long may their memory live on; lost but not forgotten."

I heard the rustle as everyone bowed their heads though mine had been throughout the whole speech. Tears were rolling down my face and my hands were clasped tightly in my lap, fingernails digging into my skin to stop the memories of that day assaulting me. My stomach was roiling as I remembered throwing up seaweed and shrimp, the gentle swoosh of the ocean in the background was bringing back images of the great waves crashing into our little boat, capsizing it and smashing it up against the rocks off-shore. The lack of Taro's voice was making it all the more difficult to stay present in the moment and not remembering spending days curled in the corner of my house or being dragged out the ocean by Elliot as I spent hours zoned out entirely from reality.

"Thank you all for coming today." Taro's voice called out to mark the end of the minute. "And I hope we all leave with remembrance in our hearts." Subdued chatter broke out amongst the crowd and I saw Felicia leading a pale Natalie away with Elliot on her other side, supporting his sister. Denny was fluttering around a distressed looking Pierre and I saw Mirabelle giving Julia a huge hug. It vaguely registered in my head that I hadn't visited her since she got back two days ago, but the thought was gone before I could cement it into my consciousness. A shadow fell over me and I looked up to see Vaughn in front of me, holding out his hands for me to take.

"C'mon cowgirl, let's go home." He said gently, and I numbly reached out to him for him to pull me up. The walk back to the farm was spent with me trying to focus my attention on a million other things happening around me in reality instead of the flashing thoughts in my head. Once we got back to the house, Vaughn whisked me straight through to Hugh's room and sat me on the bed before crawling behind me and enveloping me with his whole body. I was grateful that he'd taken me to one of the parts of the house that hadn't existed back then and I felt my breath come slightly more easily now I was surrounded by physical things that showed that the present was different to what my brain was telling me was happening. It was so loud and busy, I felt sick from the spinning thoughts. "You wanna talk to me Chels?" He asked and I suddenly found myself crying again.

"I don't know." I cried, feeling confused and dizzy with everything spiralling in my head. "Nothing makes sense and I'm scared and I don't know, I don't know anything."

"It's okay," he soothed, "it's gonna be okay, do you want to lie down?"

"I don't _know_!" I cried again, feeling completely incapable of making a decision or answering a question, feeling full of emotion but unable to verbalise it, needing someone to just dip into my mind and do everything right first time because I didn't even know myself what would be helpful. Would talking about it help? Would keeping it inside help? Should I be hiding in Hugh's room or facing the memories? Would avoiding them be helpful or detrimental? I didn't know, I didn't know, " _I don't know_!"

"Okay, okay, Chels lie back with me, come on, take some deep breaths, we need to get your breathing under control."

\- Vaughn -

Chels lay down, shuddering in my arms, and I used the time she took to breathe properly to try and get my own thoughts in order. I had no fucking clue what to do and I felt useless. I could see it now – how everything hinged on my reaction, how if I did it right I could have her laughing by dinnertime, how if I did it wrong she would spiral for days. I rubbed her back until she had calmed down. I knew my Chels was a thinker but I also knew she was a doer, so I sat us up and lifted her hands in mine.

I knew something was very very wrong when her head stayed hanging, chin limp on her chest. "Chels? How about we get up and go on a walk around the farm?" Then, remembering how she had responded to the last question I asked her I amended it to: "No, we will. Come on, we're going on a walk." I decided, thinking seeing the farm and being in the sun might help ground her again – being surrounded by everything she'd built and that we were adding to together.

I didn't get a response. Everything about her was limp and floppy. I let go of her arms and she just fell back into the bed, staring vacantly at the cowboy themed walls and breathing quietly.

Fuck.

~.oOo.~

Hours passed and I couldn't get a response out of Chelsea. I'd thought it was bad the day of the typhoon last year, but that was nothing compared to this. She'd at least had more animation back then – this, this _stillness_ was unsettling in the worst of ways. When I'd heard the stories, I hadn't really imagined what "unresponsive" had meant, but now I knew exactly just how locked inside their own body a human could become. It was unnerving. It was terrifying. And it was frustrating because the rest of the world didn't stop with them. I still had to get up and eat some lunch, use the loo, get a drink every now and then. I tried to get some sort of reply out of Chels, but everything proved futile, so then I tried to be productive. I didn't want to leave her on her own, so I tidied up Hugh's room and shoved a couple of laundry runs on. They finished and I left briefly to hang them up outside and in all that time, she didn't do anything other than stare.

After that I just talked to her, chattering about nothing. I think it was the most I'd ever spoken – all the words that left me were the sum of every word I'd ever spoken in my life. At some point in my ramblings, tears started leaking out her eyes and it hit me that she was completely aware – just not of what was going on in front of her eyes. It was like something had crawled into her brain, cut off the feedback system and was playing its own set of movie scenes behind her irises. She was living something right now – she was paying full attention – but not to the present. I took the tears as a hopeful sign that something new was happening, so I lifted her up to take her to the bathroom. I figured she'd need to piss something fierce when she came to. Her arms automatically wrapped around my neck and I took that as another good sign. I sat us down on the toilet and murmured into her ear as she started to sniffle.

\- Chelsea -

It felt like waking up from a very vivid dream – that moment where your consciousness is split between the images of the dream and what greets your eyes – where you're still half expecting the dream to continue and half realising that you're awake and that it was all a dream. Only normally I wake up in my bed and this time I was waking up on top of Vaughn in my bathroom.

"You're alright Chels, things are different now, things are good, I got you, you're okay." Vaughn's soft murmuring reached my ears and I pushed myself up in his grip. "Chels?" He asked, looking at me. I met his gaze and saw relief all over his face. It slowly came back to me – the service, Hugh's room, my breakdown and then...

"Oh God." I groaned and pushed myself up and away from him. "First the wheelbarrow, then the typhoon, then the mining accident, now this. God even I have a limit to my pride, for _fuck's sake_ man, why do I keep freaking out in front of you?!"

"Chels, it's okay." Vaughn said, standing up with his arms raised, placating. I wanted to believe him, but the slightly cautious expression he wore made my embarrassment surge all over again.

"No, it's _not_. You keep seeing me act like a complete fucking nut-job and it's embarrassing as fuck and I never see you in anything like that because when _you_ get upset you take yourself off like a fucking cat to die and _it's not okay Vaughn!"_ I was screeching a bit hysterically, but I just couldn't get myself to calm down, my face was bright red in mortification and anger at the situation. Then Vaughn started to laugh. To _laugh_.

""Like a fucking cat to die", Chels? Jesus!" He was tearing up with the laughter and I realised he was probably also crying a bit in relief. "Come here you melon." He opened his arms and I stomped into them.

"Don't _laugh_ at me." I grouched, but I already felt better about the whole situation by the lack of serious chat.

"Then don't swear so much, I find it fucking hilarious when you do. Can't take you seriously at all." He chuckled and I smiled into his chest. Silence fell over us.

"I'm sorry." We both said at the same time and I pulled back to look at him.

"Why on earth are _you_ sorry?" I asked, incredulous.

"I couldn't do anythin' to help." He said, awkwardly shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "I just had to wait for you to pull yourself out of it. I couldn't help you."

"Vaughn you are not to blame for my mental health." I gaped at him. "Even _I_ didn't know what would have been the most helpful for me, so how were you to? I can't imagine how hard it is to be around someone when they're like that and not being able to help, but just _being_ there, just _trying_ is enough. I know it doesn't seem it at the time, but in retrospect it _is_. I don't know, I don't have a textbook on this or all the answers. I just need you to know that it's okay to not get it all the way right, I have to deal with some of my shit myself, I can't and _you_ can't expect that to be your responsibility."

"But I was completely useless! What's the point in being there if I'm not _doing_ nothin'?" He expelled with a frustrated gust of air.

"You know what I'm feeling right now?" I asked him loudly, voice echoing around the tiled bathroom. "Grateful. Grateful that I have a boyfriend who cares so much for me that he tried his very best to do whatever he could for me despite not having a clue what was 'right' and what was 'wrong'. Grateful for having someone who helped me get home when I was in a fog and took care of all the menial tasks I couldn't today." I reached up and framed his neck with my hands, stroking my thumbs along his clenched jaw line. "I'll come out of it on my own eventually okay, oftentimes I just need to sleep it off and the next day is better. You've met me at a good point where that's true. I'm not badly ill, Vaughn, I just have blips sometimes."

"I know." He said with another gust of air, and reached down to frame my face with his hands. "I know." He repeatedly more softly. "I just feel like I should be able to get it right and not do something that spirals you off in the wrong direction. Should I have not laid you down? Should I have just got you out and walking and distracted?"

"No offence honey," I smiled, "but you're not so important that my entire psyche, personality and psychology rests solely upon you and your actions. What happened was going to happen, regardless of what you did. I managed fine when you disappeared from my life for two weeks – mining accident notwithstanding. I'm a big girl, I can look after myself – or to an extent at least, in this case. You're my boyfriend, you're my _support_ , not my _framework_. Shit's going to happen sometimes in my head, and the times you can really help are great but it wouldn't be fair of me to expect you to be more of an expert in me than I am myself."

Another gusty exhale through his nose and he slowly nodded, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "It may spiral down a weird pathway sometimes, but I do love this brain of yours." He mumbled against my skin. "I'm funny about this kind of stuff, I'm sorry. Call it mommy issues."

"Stop apologising you fool." I said and pushed him out of the bathroom. "Now go do something else, I desperately need to pee." I shut the door on his laughter.

~.oOo.~

The next day I did my chores and then headed into town with Vaughn. He branched off to go to pick up Hugh from Celia and have a catch up with her whilst I stopped by Mirabelle's.

"Hello?" I called out and realised just how long it had been since I'd been inside the shop front. When I'd visited Vaughn the week previous, I'd gone straight to the barn knowing it'd be worth checking there first before the house.

"Chelsea?" I heard Julia's voice reply and then suddenly a big ball of lean blonde was in my arms and squealing in my ear. "Ohmigod I haven't seen you in _so long_ tell me everything! I need to tell you all about Paris, oh my god it was _so_ romantic, Chelsea, you've _no idea_!" I let myself be dragged into their living room and pushed onto the sofa as she chattered.

"You know, I _have_ been to Paris before?" I said and she looked shocked.

"Really? But it's so far away!" She tittered.

"I lived in England until last year, Jules." I replied drily. "France is literally just across the pond from me. As is most of mainland Europe."

"Oh of course!" She actually slapped herself on her forehead. It was bloody loud as well. I paused and looked at her and she winced as she rubbed the skin.

"So how was Paris apart from 'romantic'?" I asked her and she set off into a tale about all they had seen and done in France in their week there. It was actually quite impressive – they'd hired a car and driven around the country quite a bit rather than just sticking to the capital.

"And we, you know. Did it. _It_." She said in a conspiring tone.

"Sex?" I asked her and she immediately shushed me, looking around the room nervously. "You're a married woman, Jules, I think it's okay to admit that you've slept with your husband." She smiled at me sheepishly.

"I suppose. It's still awkward to have your mom overhear it though."

"Okay, point." I laughed. "It sounds like you had a really good time though, I'm happy for you. What's happening now you're back? Who's living where?"

"Well I'm still here for the time being." She said. "We're saving up for Gannon to build us a place actually. We don't need much, but it'll just be nice to have a place that's mine and not my mom's." She sighed wistfully.

"Let me know if I can help at all." I said earnestly. "If you need extra lumber or an extra pair of hands for when you move. Honestly, I couldn't live with my parents live you do with your mum. So any help I can give, please utilise it." Julia's beautiful face crinkled as she smiled warmly at me.

"Thanks, Chelsea." She reached over and hugged me. "So tell me, what's happening here? How is it with Vaughn living with you full-time now?" It had been so long since I'd properly seen Jules and I was remembering how easy it was to fall into being a school-girl again around her. Which is the excuse I'm giving for when I absolutely _gushed_ :

"Oh my days, Jules, it's _amazing_. _He_ 's amazing. And with Hugh and all, we're a proper little family. Vaughn and I are the last thing we see each night and the first thing we see in the morning and if I died in my sleep one night, I'd die happy in knowing that the last thing I did was kiss him goodnight." Having expected a squeal from Julia, I was surprised by her silence. I looked at her from where I'd half buried my face in a pillow and saw her smiling gently at me.

"I know we call each other cousins, but that boy is like a brother to me." She said, "And I am so happy that he makes you this happy and that you do the same for him."

"Since when did you get all serious?" I asked, still waiting on her squeal.

"Since I became a married woman!" She cawed, flinging out her left hand and showing off her wedding band.

"Don't let it go to your head or anything." I rolled my eyes, grinning. She hit me with a pillow from behind her head and I launched the one I was holding back at her. From that point on, all was chaos.

~.oOo.~

\- Vaughn -

Taro said that it was going to rain the next day, so Chels and I lay in in the morning, letting Hugh sleep in as well. I could tell that Chels appreciated the break a bit – she had so many crops now that even with three of us, it could get laborious. I eventually dragged our asses out of bed and Chels made breakfast whilst I stuck my head out in the rain to check the mailbox.

"Gannon says he's got all the stuff to set up your textile mill, Chels." I called across the room as she buttered toast and Hugh walked in all bleary eyes and rumpled hair. "Mornin' squirt." I ruffled his hair as he climbed into his seat and yawned.

"Morning Vaughn." He greeted as Chelsea plated up and grinned at me.

"That's brilliant news. I'll ask him to come round when it's not raining. Oh, Lanna's going to have so much fun with it. Morning Hugh." She put the plates of eggs and soldiers down and I sat down in front of mine.

"You doin' this for her or for you?" I asked as I dunked my first soldier into the egg.

"Um, both?" She replied sheepishly. "She's the fashionista here, but it'd be cool to know that the fabrics she's working with have come from Mara." I grunted and ate another soldier.

"You excited about Lisette coming round today?" I asked Hugh, who immediately perked up. The poor boy was completely gone. He quickly tried to school his features.

"Yeah, she's alright." He said, managing to hide his excitement from his voice but not his body language. The kid was on the edge of his seat and was practically vibrating. "But we won't get to do much with the weather being so bad." He realised, and deflated into his chair.

"Well you can still go and look after the animals." Chels intervened, scooping the guts out of her egg now she'd run out of bread. "And you can show off the greenhouse to her – she didn't get to see that before." Hugh sat up again at that, smile returning to his face. "And if you want to go for a romp in the rain then I won't tell Karen if you don't." She winked at him and he beamed. God I loved seeing her interact with the kid; got me broodier than Mara whenever she did. "And then when you're thoroughly soaked enough, you can come in here for a warm shower and a hot chocolate and you can watch some telly or play some board games or do some drawing or we can all do some baking together. I'll be working on things outside, but I won't be too far if you need me."

"We could make flower shaped cookies – Lisette would probably like that, right?" He asked, vibrating with excitement again.

"I'm sure she'd love that, Hugh, that's very thoughtful." She praised and he grinned and attacked his eggs again. _'Awwwwwh!'_ Chels mouthed at me and I just shook my head, hiding my grin as I finished off the last of my breakfast.

"Right, family," I said as I rose, "I'm off to check on our resident produce makers." I gathered up mine and Chelsea's empty plates and left them by the sink before dropping a kiss to Chels's head and a hair ruffle to Hugh's on my way out. I caught a faint flush on Chels's cheeks as I left and I grinned at the fact that I could still make her blush nearly 7 months in.

I started with the chickens and relaxed amongst the warmth and happy clucking the coop greeted me with. Aras, Arlette and Peta were all wonderful specimens of chicken and I was so happy that we had at least _some_ animals that gave back the love we gave them. I gave them all a thorough once-over and topped up their feed, rummaging around in the straw on the floor for whatever eggs had been laid overnight. Aras was laying multiple eggs a day by this point and I think Arlette was starting to, too. It was nice to see the progress and I felt pleased for Chels at the reward these chicks gave her.

Then it was time to move onto the barn. I started with Gwen and Alexa, giving them a proper brush down and a lot of loving as I looked them over. I gently milked them and topped up their fodder as they watched me with soppy brown eyes. Then I turned my attention on the two in the corner. I swear, every time I saw them they looked like a pair of gossiping old ladies. I brushed them down – much to their outward displeasure – and topped up their fodder. I then quickly milked Lola, promised (or threatened?) to come back later to check that they'd eaten and then left back to the farmhouse. On my way I saw the lights in the greenhouse come on, so I diverted my path to the glass building. Chels was inside, looking over the leaves on her tomato plants carefully.

"I'm hoping the hormones will kick in with those two soon and they'll stop being such moody mares." I said as I slid the door shut behind me and shook the worst of the rain off me. "Hugh not in here with you?" I asked.

"He's searching through his room for all the best toys he wants to show off to Lisette. I told him to find a mac whilst he was at it, I know he doesn't care for it, but Lisette will need one if they're going to play outside without Karen and Rick knowing. I doubt we'll have a change of clothes for her identical to what she turns up in." I propped myself up against the bench she was bent over.

"What the fuck is a 'mac'?" I asked. "I assume you're not talking about the computer." She scowled up at me.

"A mackintosh not a macintosh. It's like a rain jacket. I'll get you speaking my lingo soon enough."

"Sorry, darlin', I'm afraid you're outnumbered on this island. You, Gannon and Eliza will just have to adapt." I grinned and she straightened up to scowl at me more clearly.

"Did you just come in here to insult my heritage, or did you actually have something worth saying?" She asked me, sticking her nose in the air before she picked up one of the many watering cans in the greenhouse and moving around to sprinkle a little on the soil of her crops.

"What, a guy's not allowed to want to just spend time in the company of his girlfriend?" I returned, picking up a small watering can and helping her out.

"Of course 'a guy' can, but you're not _just_ 'a guy'."

"Shit, has my dick fallen off and I've not noticed?" I asked, feigning concern and patting around my crotch. She paused in her watering to look at me blankly.

"You're so crude." She said simply, before ignoring me and continuing on her way.

"You're the one that's brought the humour out in me, darlin'." I reminded her. "I can't put it away once it's out."

"You sure we're talking about your 'humour' still here?" She asked me giving me the side-eye. I grinned, watering the last of the summer crops and making my way round to her to pull her into me.

"It's your fault for being so damn good with that kid." I said to her, pressing kisses up her neck which I knew was a weak zone for her.

"You know it's really disturbing that you get turned on because of a 9-year-old." She gasped out and I pulled away, grossed out. She could see it on my face as well because she busted up laughing.

"Way to kill a mood." I grouched and she just chuckled more at my expense, before leaning up and sucking gently on my earlobe – my own weak spot.

"I can make it up to you later." She murmured as my hands came up to grip her hips. "For now, we've got two 9-year-olds to babysit." Then she ducked out of my hold and ran out the greenhouse back to the house. I groaned before following her, spying the same multi-colored umbrella that she had, bobbing its way onto the farm.

\- Chelsea -

As much as I loved teasing Vaughn, I was serious when I ran off to greet Karen and Lisette. The day was going to be a tiring one, and by the time Karen came to collect Lisette, I'd been proven correct. I'd barely managed to keep up with the kids all day, and I'm 20. How people do this at any older age than mine, I'd never know. Vaughn kept up surprisingly well, given his aged body.

It had started off pretty easily. Hugh had shepherded Lisette off to the chickens and I'd gone to clear a space for the textile mill out by the windmill. Vaughn had stayed to have an awkward conversation with Karen before she left, then he'd gone to supervise them with the animals and chat facts at them for a bit. At that point, it was all still pretty calm. Mid-morning, I saw the three of them head back to the farmhouse, presumably for a snack. After than the kids went off to the greenhouse and Vaughn came to haul-ass with me in the rain for a bit, smashing rocks and laying out a foundation for where the mill was going to go whilst I tilled the grass out the way. In the rain, all we were really making was a bordered off mud pit, which is exactly how the kids treated it when they came careening out the greenhouse a half hour later.

"Geronimooooo!" Was the only warning we had before Hugh was smack-dab in the middle of the mess. Lisette had the grace to stay on the outside of the border, but she giggled enough as Hugh stomped around in his wellies, making more chaos than there already was.

"Hugh!" I'd admonished, seeing the mud cake his trousers and fleck his shirt.

"You said we could play in the rain, Chelsea!" He'd pouted and I'd had to deal with my first proper scolding of the boy.

" _This_ wasn't what I meant, and you know it. Vaughn and I are working here, Hugh, now climb out and head off inside to dry off. Don't tread mud around the house." He'd looked appropriately guilty as the adrenaline wore off and the embarrassment of being scolded by his guardian in front of the girl he liked settled in. I figured that wound to the pride would be punishment enough really, but I'd have to set him some menial chores at some point just to make sure he learnt that his actions had consequences.

"Sorry Chelsea, sorry Vaughn." He'd mumbled and then scrambled off to the house, Lisette worriedly following behind him.

I'd then had to deal with a randy Vaughn pawing at me, saying how hot it is when I get angry before we headed in for lunch.

Hugh had obediently taken his boots off at the door and left them outside under the porch. His jacket and the mac he'd leant Lisette were hanging up on the pegs Vaughn had hammered in at kids' height and a couple of wet patches lined the path to his room. The two were quietly sitting on the sofa watching the telly when we arrived.

Hugh had looked at me worriedly and started gushing out an apology before I cut him off telling him it was okay because I knew he had just been silly without thinking, but that he'd need to help out with the washing up after meal times for the next couple of days. He'd nodded his head and offered to help me with lunch (50% remorse and 50% showing off for Lisette, I reckon) and the rest of the day had followed from there.

Lisette was a cute girl; a very polite house guest and very caring. She seemed very sweet and open. There wasn't any guise with her like there was with Eliza, and it was pleasant having another kid around who was just honest from the outside in. Vaughn had gone back outside to finish off with the foundation for the mill and I'd stayed inside for the afternoon, baking flower-shaped cookies with the kids with Pokémon on in the background on the telly.

By the time Karen arrived to pick up Lisette, the poor girl was half-caked in flour and had chocolate and icing smudged all around her mouth as she gushed about her visit.

I'd offered to have the girl over again any time, Karen had smiled and agreed and we'd set a date for Sunday. By that point, it was basically dinner time and Hugh mostly pushed his food around his plate – full up on cookies – dutifully helped out with the washing up, then leant in and kissed me on the cheek before heading to bed, leaving me to melt in front of Vaughn before my cowboy picked up what he'd started earlier and we retired to our bedroom to melt in an entirely different way.

 **Chapter End.**

 **A/N:** **The calm before the storm...**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** **British notes at the end of the chapter.**

 **Nymerianna99, I'm so sorry!**

 **Chapter 13.**

\- Chelsea -

The rest of March passed, mostly in a rain cloud and April came in in a similar manner. Lisette was around at ours quite often and watching her with Hugh was adorable. As much as 9-year-olds can crush, it was pretty clear that they were crushing on each other hard. The family moved out halfway through the month and Hugh was devastated, but they weren't too far away and Karen had hinted heavily at visiting again sometime this year, so it wasn't too bad. Vaughn deflated a bit once Popuri left as well – the two had really hit it off and it was nice to see him making a friend he could socialise with. He still saw Celia every now and then, but I think there was something special about Popuri being a friend that _he_ chose to make rather than how I basically forced him to interact with Celia.

Things on the farm were really coming together. Gannon had spent a full five days installing the textile mill (three of which were in the torrential rain, the poor guy) and then Lanna had spent most of her mornings holed up in there, taking whatever wool I provided her with and turning it into yarn and then the yarn into clothing. I'd started growing cotton and flax early on in the season – it wasn't quite harvestable yet, but it was getting there. Chen's was now boasting a pretty woolly clothing section, which worked out well with how cold it hard turned with the miserable weather.

It was early April when the next Big Thing happened. Lanna's presence on the island had always been vaguely known by her fan-base, but not many people actually bothered her here. It was a bit of a trek to make, just for an autograph. Plus, her afternoons were spent in the jungle with Shea (they were still going strong and last I heard, Lanna and he had started making bizarre pop-tribal fusion music together), where very few could find her (it helped that her boyfriend was literally a hunter as well and could pretty much scare off anyone who was unwanted company. It was a skill shared only by Vaughn, Gannon and Natalie).

In any case, after the clothing started coming out in Chen's store, she somehow managed to entirely unintentionally start a name for herself in the fashion world. Tourists would buy the clothes, go back to the mainland and spread the word and suddenly she was faced with a conundrum that I think she thought she'd never see – get her leg in the door in the fashion industry, which had always been a dream, or keep her new life of privacy, which she had moved to the island for in the first place.

Eventually the decision was basically taken out of her hands once some up-and-coming fashion magazine heard of her. They sent a reporter out to the island who managed to track Lanna down to my farm in the middle of her creating her latest woollen masterpiece. Flattery took over and Lanna caved to give a short interview (firmly plugging the farm and the produce as she did, which I found hilarious. Lola had made significant improvements in her moods since she fell pregnant, but Mara was still a pretty miserable sheep. It felt like vengeance to take the wool of such a bitter creature and turn it into joy for the people she hated). And thus the brand L&C was born. Being a part of the name became a running joke for Vaughn – he thought it was hilarious that the girl who lived in shorts and a bandana was a named member in a fashion line, and seeing as all I did was give her wool and a place to work I didn't really feel like I deserved a dedication in the actual _fashion_ side of it.

"Fashion is nothing without production, Chelsea." Lanna had said, and that was the end of that. So our little island became the sole provider of L&C clothing and we had even more people flocking to our shores than ever. I even found myself giving a few words to some gardening and agriculture magazines that were printed back on the mainland once L&C had grown big enough for people to care about my farm (the fact that we were still running off one sheep – that admittedly gave a lot of wool these days, but still just the one – meant that basically every item was exclusive as there were so few of them. It also meant people went nuts over how elusive they were and how "organic" the whole process was).

It shouldn't have surprised me that a ghost from my past would manage to find me and turn up on the doorstep to my new home. It had happened once already with Tina after all, but I suppose I just assumed that seeing as I wasn't anybody big back home – and home really was a lot further away than America where Lanna's fanbase was – that I'd be overlooked. I didn't know anyone in America and that was where all this publicity was heading.

So it was that I woke up on my 21st birthday at the tail-end of April, completely relaxed and ready to spend the day with Vaughn and Hugh as well seeing as it was a Saturday. My two boys had treated me to breakfast and presents in bed and sorted out everything on the farm for me whilst I luxuriated in a bubble bath at 9AM. I was out, lounging on the sofa in my towel and actually painting my nails for once (well, my toenails which were less likely to get ruined within the day) when the knock on the door came. Both Vaughn and Hugh were out on the farm still, so I cussed as I hopped over to the door, clutching my towel around me, fully prepared to find Lanna on the other side with some question or other about the fashion line.

What I opened the door to though was a beautifully sculpted platinum blond man with sky-blue eyes that I remember sparkling at me from the pillow next to mine in the early morning light that fell through the curtain cracks on summer days back in my flat in London.

"Will." I gasped and clutched my towel around me even tighter as I felt it slip with my shock-slackened grasp.

"Cecee." He beamed and tugged my free hand towards him to drop a kiss on the back of it. "How wonderful it is to see you! I'm terribly sorry to drop by so unannounced, would it be okay for me to come in? This rain is rather dreadful, though I suppose I should be used it by now – it's not much better back home after all!" He chuckled to himself and I found myself standing aside, mouth agape still.

"I, err. I'll just. Um." My brain had completely melted in his presence and the bastard just smiled benignly at me as if there was nothing wrong in the world.

"Perhaps a change of wardrobe is required?" He prodded and I flushed as I nodded and ran into my room and slammed the door behind me.

"What the _fuck_ is he doing here?" I asked the empty room, dread already settling into my stomach. I hadn't thought about the guy in a long, long time and now, here he was, on my island, on my farm, _in my house in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!_

I didn't have a clue what was going on, but I knew that nothing good ever came out of your ex rocking up on your doorstep with no prior warning.

"Vaughn is going to go _ape-shit_."

\- Vaughn -

I was in pretty high spirits today as I watered my way around the greenhouse with Hugh by my side. I didn't often get to do a lot of stuff with the kid by myself, and I was utilising Chels's birthday to the max in order to do a bit of male bonding. Of course, watering flowers generally wasn't on the top of most male bonding to-do lists, but I'd take what I could get. Only the most secure men could partake in gender stereotyped activities and come out unscathed, after all.

We had the whole day planned out between the two of us. The morning had gone off without a hitch, and we'd left Chels pruning herself up in a bath about an hour earlier. We were leaving it up to her on how to spend most of the day, but come tea-time we had a whole surprise party arranged for her at Aunt Bella's. It was meant to be in the meadow, but with it still pissin' down outside, we'd had to make a quick recalculation. It'd been nice enough for most of the last week, and we'd hoped it would stay, but Aunt Bella and Jules were always happy to hostess and I think it made them feel more connected to us now that we're all moved out and don't see them as often as we did when I still lived there.

"That's the last of 'em, squirt." I said, putting the watering can back down by the door as Hugh followed suit. "Let's head on inside and see what Chels is wanting to do for the rest of the day." I winked at him. We jogged through the rain and crashed into the living room only to find no Chelsea and a stranger on our couch instead.

"Hello!" He cried as he rose from his seat and bowed – the dude fucking _bowed_ – to us both.

"Er, hi?" I replied, making it clear with my stance that he better tell me who the fuck he was and what the fuck he was doing in my house in the next five seconds or he'd be out on his ass in the rain.

"My apologies, how rude of me! My name is William Terry Louis Andrew Carrick Jonathan Dredge Hams Reading Roger Southwark Alwick Plymouth Junior Regison III, but please, just call me Will." The guy said, dropping into a sweeping bow again.

"Right." I replied, staring at him blankly. The guy was from the same part of England as Chels was – her accent wasn't as pronounced anymore, and she didn't speak as fancy, but she'd always been pretty well spoken regardless. This guy took it to a new level, but he was obviously from a similar area. Or more similar than Gannon was from. I didn't really give a shit, to be honest. All I cared about was why the fuck he was here on Chels's birthday and shitting all over the plans that Hugh and I had made. Speaking of... "Hugh, why don't you head off to your room for a bit? Chels or I will come get you when we're done with our...guest." The kid didn't waste a second as he skirted round the edge of the room and dashed through his bedroom doorway. Clearly he thought the guy was cuckoo as well, which was comforting. Kids were meant to be good judges of character, right?

"So what are you doing here?" I asked, turning my attention back to guy.

"I came to visit my Cecee!" He exclaimed with a grand hand gesture. I felt my eye twitch at both the possessive and the nickname.

"You mean _Chelsea_?" I emphasised and he chortled – motherfucking chortled – at me.

"Yes yes, but of course. I haven't called her than in years, myself, but yes, we speak of the same fair maiden!" My patience was nearly gone – I was impressed I'd lasted this long – when I asked my next question.

"And how do you know Chelsea?" The door to our room opened and out walked the girl in question in her laziest loungewear I knew she owned, looking pretty pale. Her face drained of what little color it had left as she noticed me facing off with this _Will_ bastard and as he responded with:

"Well, I'd have thought it obvious! We used to be each other's paramours."

\- Chelsea -

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Vaughn ground out from gritted teeth, his accent thick with emotion. "Cos I ain't no expert in your fancy Brit talk, but ain't that a word that means y'all dated?" I opened my mouth to respond before Will could say what I knew he was about to, but I was too late.

"Oh Cecee, his English is _appalling_! How do you cope?!" I ran across the room to stand in front of Vaughn and laid a light hand on his chest, not restraining him should he choose to lunge for Will like it looked like he was about to, but just reminding him that it'd be a good idea not to. Knowing Will and the money – and therefore lawyers – he had behind his name, I knew it was _especially_ a good idea not to.

"Will, please." I said, not looking at him and concentrating on the cowboy in front of me. His already tight jaw, tightened more as I said Will's name. "Look, I know you weren't to know but this really _is_ an unexpected visit and I'm afraid I already have plans today." I said, turning to face my ex-boyfriend. "I don't know how long you're here for, but can we take a rain-check on this? I've got to get on with my day."

"Of course, of course!" Will gushed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box. "I can't expect you to keep your days free on the off chance someone turns up on your doorstep, and I apologise again for how rude it was of me to visit with no prior notice. If I'd had a way of contacting you, I assure you I would have." He bowed his head in remorse. "Here." He held out the box to me. "Happy birthday, Cecee, I hope this makes up for my blundering manners. I know how distraught you were when you –" he paused very briefly to glance at Vaughn who was no doubt seething above my head. " _lost_ it the last time." Then he bowed to me once more, pressed a kiss to the back of my hand and scarpered before Vaughn could take a swing at him. The door shutting behind him resounded in the thick silence in the room he left behind, and the rain pattering against the windows seemed amplified within it.

"Greenhouse. Now." Vaughn bit out and followed Will's footsteps. I shoved my boots on my sockless feet and stumbled to follow, sending a glance at Hugh's closed bedroom door as I went. God this was going to take a lot of explaining.

The door rattled as Vaughn threw it open and I made sure to shut it gently behind me. I didn't think I'd ever seen him this angry before, and whilst I knew most of it was at the situation rather than me, I knew that he didn't have the best track record for directing his anger where anger was due.

The rain was soft against the glass as we stood there looking at each other. Vaughn must have seen something wary in my expression because he held his arms out.

"I'm pissed off, not murderous. Come here, I ain't gonna hurt you." I sighed in relief and moved forward and he held me tightly to him. "Chels what the fuck is goin' on? I didn't even know you _had_ an ex, let alone _that_ dickhead. How did that even happen? He's so...and _you're_ so... What the fuck is goin' on?" I pulled back to look up at him and saw the frustration on his face. He was in just as much shock as I was, even more so perhaps because at least I knew that Will existed in the first place.

"It's a long story," I started, as a warning not a dismissal. "So it might be worth finding somewhere to sit, cowboy." He grunted, let go of me and moved some bags of soil around until he'd made two seats for us both. I flopped on the one he didn't take, took a deep breath and began. "Firstly I want to say that I didn't mean to hide any of this from you. It wasn't done deceptively, it wasn't me purposefully withholding stuff from you – it was just the fact it never came up in conversation and honestly, I hardly ever think of all of it anymore, especially not here where my life is so separate to London and I'm so happy every day.

"So yeah, Will and I used to go out. We dated for just over a year before he ended it. I was pretty torn up over it at the time, and it was part of the reason why I decided to go on my trip to the States and I booked myself a ticket for four months' time. Four months after we split, I had saved enough to have a comfortable time when I went. I was mostly over it by then, but I thought I might as well go anyway. I'd always wanted to, and then I'd be able to go back to the UK, move out my flat in London and try my hand as a farmer's aide in Somerset. That obviously never happened and I ended up here instead."

"But _how_ , you and _him_?" He interrupted when I paused for breath. I grimaced.

"I was brought up in a pretty upper-middle class family." I sighed. "I wasn't, y'know, Regis and Sabrina, but the household income was more than the farm is currently earning." I saw his eyebrows raise at that – the farm was earning a pretty penny at the moment. "My dad was in the corporate insurance business, my mum stayed at home to look after me and the house. We had a cleaner. We went on 5-star holidays to mainland Europe every summer. My dad had an original 1960's Porsche. We had a holiday home in Switzerland. I had horse-riding lessons. My mum's parents _were_ Regis and Sabrina levels of rich – they lived in a mansion and had a tennis court in their back garden. I went to an all-girl's private school where they shoved education down your throats and taught you that Bs were bad and A*s were the only acceptable grades. My life was _very_ different back then to how it is now. I like to think I was never a twat with it – my parents are quite snobby but they knew that snobbery is an unattractive trait, so they brought me up not to take for granted what I had. Kind of hypocritical, I know. The summer I graduated from school, I spent a lot of time hanging out in the local bar celebrating our freedom and 18 years of age, drinking with my friends and their friends from the local all-boys private school. Will was one of the guys and everyone pushed us together because we were both going off to uni to read the same subject. To be completely honest, something only happened between the two of us because we both got off-our-tits pissed one night and made out in the bar.

"Following that, something clicked between us, and yeah he was a right posho but then we all were so I didn't really notice it that much – it's what I'd grown up around. He wasn't a horrible guy either, he didn't hate on those with less money, mainly he just disapproved of those who weren't as well educated. The two can go completely hand in hand and I see that now, but I didn't back then, and he was always so polite and his manners go genuinely down to his heart...at the time I'd never had a boyfriend or anything and I was a bit smitten by it all so I went with it. He went off to Oxford and I went off to Surrey and his views got reinforced whilst mine got quietly changed until I started speaking less like the queen and made friends with people who had family members in gangs in London. Uni was the best thing that happened to me socially in terms of personal growth. It just so happened that the people I befriended were quite bigoted against those with more money and women in general. I was always the butt of the insult and they were very closed-minded people and along with that I realised halfway through my first year that I hated what I was studying. I hated _studying_ full stop. It took a lot of thinking that I won't go into now, but eventually I decided to drop out.

"My parents were beyond pissed. I was an embarrassment to them and all their friends they had bragged about me to. I was an only child so they had all their hopes resting on me. I moved back home for a bit and got a bog standard job in retail just to have some spending money. That was even _more_ embarrassing for them – their daughter, the cashier. We fought a lot and I saved every penny I could until the inevitable happened – I got kicked out and told never to go back. I rented a crappy little flat in a dodgy area for a while until I figured out what I wanted to do. Throughout all this, Will and I had been keeping up a long-distance relationship. He'd been sweet about me leaving uni and I leant on him a lot for support because I literally had no one else.

"I guess he could deal with it for as long as he didn't have to see the physical reality of it. He was still studying so he'd pay my train fares for me to visit him in Oxford every other week and we were good for a little while longer. During the summer I mostly stayed at his – he had pretty absent parents. Then at some point he came round to mine – I think he'd had a fight with his dad over our relationship now that my reputation had been dragged through the mud. Will's a pretty passionate guy, so he flounced out declaring our love eternal and then he saw my ends and the flat I lived in. Things got a bit strained after that – some of the crap that had been whispered in his ears for years had sunk in and we started fighting over stupid shit and politics. When I told him that I was thinking of going into farming, he flat-out laughed at me.

"Things got properly ugly from then on. He'd say stuff that he genuinely thought was inoffensive but it'd tear me down constantly. I wasn't happy but I was desperate to keep one person in my life – I'd just lost everyone else and he was it for me. By the autumn, he was back at uni and had me come visit him, just to dump me the night I arrived. "It's impolite to do such conversations in any manner other than face to face." So yeah. I had to sleep in the same bed as the guy the same night he dumped me. I jumped on the first train back the next day and booked my flight to New York whilst I was travelling back to London. He tried calling me that night but I ignored it and every attempt after that. I posted whatever shit of his I had to his flat in Oxford, saved up and fled to the US for my west-to-east coast holiday.

"And yeah. That's the long and short of it all, I guess." I trailed off in a mumble, voice hoarse from talking and staring at my twiddling thumbs. I stayed looking at my hands whilst Vaughn digested. His own hands came into my line of vision as they gently held mine.

"And why is he here now?" He asked, voice a lot calmer now – through my explanation or the fact he'd calmed down in the age it had taken for me to tell, I'm not sure.

"That," I looked up at him to see his face a lot less tense than it had been, "is a question I can't answer. I assume he saw me through one of the fashion magazines repping L&C or something. Why he decided to act on that...I don't know." Vaughn breathed out through his nose.

"What do you want to do about him?" He asked. I peeked up at him from under my lashes.

"Honestly? I really don't know." I sighed. "I'm curious – of course I am, someone from my old life rocks up and I've no idea why...but I don't know if it's worth opening that can of worms or not. It's not like I've thought of the guy since I crash landed here, and I'm really happy here with you and the farm and Hugh...just, can we not think about it today? It's my birthday and it's already miserable outside. I was having such a good time of it before and I really don't want to have to think about anything tiring today. Are we okay?"

Vaughn leaned over and kissed my forehead and I sagged in exhaustion and relief. "Course we are, cowgirl. I don't care who you used to be – I didn't know that chick – and I'm not so insecure that I'm threatened by that asshat. We're good."

"I must have done something very right in a previous life to deserve you." I smiled at him, and we stood up. "Let's head back and watch a crappy movie, all three of us, and I can finish off painting my toes."

"Whatever the birthday girl wishes." Vaughn said, and gave me a mock bow to which I giggled.

We spent the rest of the morning curled up under a blanket with Hugh between us, watching bad movies and eating popcorn until my boys surprised me with a party at Mirabelle's. It didn't help that I could see Will's dad's yacht moored up outside Denny's from Mirabelle's house, but I tried my best to laugh along and ignore the elephant in the room in my mind. By the end of the day, though, I couldn't quite shake the cloud that had settled around my head, knowing that Will was somewhere on the island.

Happy birthday my arse.

~.oOo.~

I made it three days until I caved. Vaughn gave me a very knowing look when I casually told him I was heading off to the beach in the afternoon after Hugh had gone to Chen's. The weather was on a turn for the better and I felt bitter as I walked through the sunshine with my own personal storm going on between my ears.

Vaughn had been really good about the whole thing after his initial explosion of temper. I don't think I'd have handled the situation half as well – I was far too much a jealous personality to be able to deal with Vaughn seeing any exes if he'd had one to see. My cowboy was doing really well. I knew it bugged him that Will was here, and I knew it bugged him that I hadn't sat there cussing Will out and saying how I hated him and never wanted to look at the guy again. I knew there were some insecurities floating around in his mind, and I'd used the last three days to really try to reassure him without making it obvious that that's what I was doing. I must have told the guy how much I loved him about a hundred times and I was probably lacking in subtlety entirely, but whatever. My guy's security in our relationship was more important than me sounding like a broken record.

I couldn't stop the niggling question that Vaughn had asked from echoing through my head though.

" _And why is he here now?"_

The night after I left from Oxford and Will had phoned me at 3AM, I'd ignored the phonecall. Curiosity had lingered around the edges of my consciousness over the event ever since, and now here was a chance to get my answers and make my peace. The guy had broken me when I was already in a tough situation and it had taken me a long time to get to the place I was now – a mindset of understanding rather than accusing. That didn't mean I didn't have questions I wanted answers to though. Half my ability to be so understanding stemmed from the fact that I hadn't thought I'd get the chance to _ask_ those questions, and now I could, I really wanted to let rip.

I got to the beach and saw the bright white yacht that I'd stayed in once on a holiday with his family to Cornwall. Nerves and dread congealed in my stomach and settled at the bottom of it as I walked up the gangplank up to the deck where I could see Will sunning himself.

"Will." I greeted neutrally and he jumped a mile, sitting upright with a sparkling white smile on his face.

"Cecee! You came to see me!" He cried, standing up with a flourish. I sighed. His personality was a one of a kind and I'd never met someone like him since. It brought back all sorts of memories – snowball fights in our pyjamas on his estate, summer drives around the Oxfordshire countryside in the sunshine, wheeling round on shopping trolleys in Waitrose and acting completely inappropriate for kids of our upbringing but not caring for once...

He bowed and kissed the back of my hand before leading me over to the shaded bar he had on deck.

"What are you doing here, Will?" I asked as I sat down, cutting straight to the chase.

"Come, come, no pleasantries first? How are you doing m'lady, would a glass of lemonade quench your thirst for answers for a spell?" He winked and I frowned at him.

"Cut it out, Will, I know you better than this. I can tell when you're stalling. Why are you here?" He deflated and put a glass of lemonade in front of me regardless.

"You never returned my calls." He said quietly. "And then you disappeared from London altogether."

"You _dumped_ me!" I cried out. "You let me come all the way to Oxford, knowing you were going to do it, and dumped me _on arrival_. It would have been kinder to do it over the phone by that stage! Why on earth would I return your calls?!"

"I made a mistake!" He wailed over me and it shut me up pretty quickly. "I regretted it the moment it sunk in that we'd never speak again; never see each other again. I'd been bigoted and let that come between us. I realised the error of my ways, Chelsea, and I wanted to make things right." I started as he called me Chelsea. The last time he'd done that was the conversation he used to break us up and it was unsettling to hear it again now in his voice. "I stopped by your flat during the Christmas break but you weren't there." I'd been working every shift I could then, trying to get all the money I could so I could enjoy my jaunt in America. I must have missed him. "I tried again in Easter but you still weren't there. I tried again in the summer, I even stopped by your New Look but they said no one called Chelsea worked there. I even got in touch with Genevieve and Jacob -" my _parents_ , "-but they turned me out pretty speedily. No one knew where you were!" His face was the picture of distress and I was frustrated to find that it still caused the same knee-jerk reaction to soothe him now that it did a year and a half ago.

"So how did you find me?" I asked, still reeling from the fact he'd spoken to my mum and dad to try to find me. They were pretty intimidating people with a fair amount of power within their social and business circles.

"Once I'd exhausted all of my London avenues, I set my sights on Somerset." He said, looking a bit proud of himself. "I knew you had wanted to pursue a career in agriculture, so I packed my Barbour and my Hunters and drove off in the Rover to find you. I must have asked about fifty different agricultural establishments –"

"Just call them _farms_ , Will."

"-Before I realised that no one had seen you there either. Instead of allowing myself to become despondent though, I decided to subscribe to various agricultural magazines. I knew how determined you were and assumed some clue or other would show up soon enough." I was shaking my head in disbelief as he pulled out a glossy copy of one of the magazines I'd done an interview for. The reporter had been American, so I hadn't even realised that they published in the UK. "And so I borrowed Father's yacht and sailed across the ocean to you." He finished with a flourish, opening the magazine to the page which had my interview printed on it including a picture of me stood in front of the farm.

"You sailed here." I stared at him. "From England."

"Oh, it only took me about a week and a half. You know how fast she goes when her motors are running full steam." He said, patting the wall of the cabin behind him.

" _Who does that_?" I screeched, completely lost in the whole conversation. "You _dump_ me, then spend what, a year and a half looking for me then you _sail across two oceans to find me_?"

"Terribly romantic isn't it?" He asked with a wink. Something in my brain snapped.

"Dude, _let it go_! Live with your mistake! Jesus Christ." I rose to a stand. "So what, what you're here to try to start things back up again? To atone for your wrong-doings? For a holiday? What?"

Will scrabbled around from behind the bar and gripped my hands in his. I yanked them out and crossed my arms as he stood pleadingly in front of me.

"I still love you Cecee. I've travelled around the globe for you to apologise. Please, give me another chance." I almost felt sorry for the guy and I sighed, dropping my arms.

"You're too late, Will." I said gently. "That guy that was in my house the other day? He's my boyfriend. We live together and look after a kid together. My farm is just about as much his as it is mine these days. I've moved on from you; from us; from _England_. This is my home now and I have an entirely different life here. I'm happy here."

He sunk back against the bar looking truly devastated and guilt started nibbling around the edges of my brain. He'd really spent the last year and a half searching for me.

"What did you do about uni?" I asked as the thought struck me.

"I deferred for a year." He said weakly, tiredly running his hand down his face. "I start final year in September."

The concept of being at university still, of knowing someone who was at _university_ was so alien to me now; so young compared to all the 18 year olds on the island who went straight into work, let alone 21 year olds. I could never go back to that, could never imagine myself being so carefree with coursework deadlines and hangovers my only worries in the world. I felt reaffirmed in my life here on the island.

"Look, Will. I'm sorry you've spent so much time on this all, but I really think it'd be good for you to just head off now. Surely you can see your feelings for me aren't healthy – you disrupted your entire education pathway just to go on a wild goose chase for a girl who you hadn't spoken to in a year!"

"Help me make it healthy then." He said, imploringly. "Let's just be friends. You and your boyfriend can come over for dinner and we can all have a jolly good time of it!" He continued with false cheer. I looked at him until he shrunk back and nodded. "Okay, perhaps not. But friends we can do? We've shared so much together and I miss you Cecee." He looked so sad and I felt so entirely platonically towards him that I actually paused for thought for a second.

"I don't know, Will." I conceded eventually, standing up and walking back to the gangplank. "I need some time to think. This conversation has been... a lot. I'll see you around sometime maybe. Thanks for the lemonade."

"Cecee!" He called over the railing on deck. "Did you at least open your present?" I'd forgotten all about it actually. I think it was lying somewhere buried in the sofa. "Just, take it as a token of my friendship and dedication to maintaining some relation between us." I vaguely waved to show that I'd heard and then scurried away, feeling his eyes on my back the whole way. I had a lot to think about.

~.oOo.~

Vaughn met me as I loped into the farmhouse, feeling bone-deep tired. I headed straight to the sofa, grabbed the package Will had given me, tore it open and found a large red jewellery box. The name _Cartier_ flashed at me in gold as I opened it. A glittering white gold chain faced with me with a large charm of a parrot sitting nestled amongst the fabric. It was studded with diamonds, an emerald eye and chains of sapphires blooming out its tail to form plumage.

I felt the sofa dip next to me as Vaughn joined me, putting down a glass of iced tea on the coffee table in front of me as I sat there in a stupor. He whistled as he peered over my shoulder at the necklace, but I knew he had no idea how much awe the piece really deserved.

"So how'd it go?" He asked me, and his accent sounded strong to my ears after an hour of conversation with another Brit. I quickly shut the lid on the box and all but threw it onto the coffee table.

"He's crazy." I said, crawling on top of Vaughn and clinging to him, him and his beautifully sane ways. "He's spent the last year and a half trying to find out where I am. He deferred his final year to search for me. His _final year_ at _Oxford_. He sailed here from _England_. And _that –_ " I said, pointing a shaking finger at the innocent looking box, "would have cost him the same amount as a _house_."

Vaughn just blinked at me dumbly and I echoed his mute sentiment.

"He said he wants to be friends." I said, hearing my voice slowly get higher as hysteria settled in. "Friends. Who wants to be _friends_ with someone when they spend the same amount of money that you would on a _house_ on a _necklace_?! I've never been given something so ridiculous!" I squeaked and Vaughn started stroking up and down my arms to calm me down.

"Didn't he say you'd had it before but lost it?" He asked me and I took a deep shuddering breath to re-oxygenate my brain.

"My grandparents gave me something very similar for my 18th." I explained, "But it wasn't anywhere near as expensive as _that_. I had to sell it to pay off my loans and rent after my parents turned me out. Oh my god, my _parents¸_ he spoke to my _parents_ to try to find out where I was. My _parents_ Vaughn!" I started breathing way too quickly again, panic at the idea of having to ever deal with them again rising in my chest.

"Your _parents_ Chels, who you don't ever have to speak to again. They didn't come with him, and I'm sorry to say it darlin', but they obviously don't care." Cruel though his words may have sounded, I sagged in relief as he said them.

"He says he wants to be friends." I repeated, leaning down on top of Vaughn and burying my face in his neck, breathing in the familiar smell of his deodorant that always made me feel warm and homely. "What do I do? This is a situation that's beyond ridiculous. I don't know what to do with it."

"Take it a day at a time, Chels." He soothed, untying my bandana and running his fingers through my hair, slowly detangling it as he did most evenings after a windy day of work. "Do you want to see him again today?"

"No." I mumbled, finally feeling calm and exhausted for it.

"Then ya don't got to see him today. I personally hope he fucks off back to England, but if you need to talk to him a couple more times to get closure on things, then you can do that. If you wake up tomorrow and don't wanna see him, then you don't. Same goes for the next day. It'll be alright. Come on, it's a nice day outside today, drink ya ice tea and we'll go let the animals out into the paddock." I sighed into his neck and pressed a kiss there before pulling back to grab my drink. This is what I needed – normality. My farm, my animals, my cowboy. Not some enactment of a bad movie plotline.

"Thank you, Vaughn." I said seriously, pressing a kiss to his lips before guzzling my drink in one. "I'm just gonna go to the loo then I'll be right out." I pointedly ignored the Cartier box on the coffee table as I walked to the bathroom, and when I left to go join Vaughn it was gone.

~.oOo.~

\- Vaughn -

The next day and Chels was mostly back to normal. Another day after that and she was even better. A third, and she was right as rain. I wasn't entirely sure how to feel about the whole situation. It was clear to me that Chels had no feelings leftover for Will whatsoever – or not romantic ones at least – and I knew she was a kind girl so she'd probably be feelin' all kinds of weird about it all. For Hugh's sake, we didn't really talk about it again, and I think that helped her ultimately. She'd seemed to mostly put the creep outta her mind and before we knew it, it'd been a week since the guy arrived.

I wanted to walk up to his stupid boat and ask him when the fuck he was planning on leaving (every time I went to visit Aunt Bella I could see that it was still floating in the harbour), but figured if Chels could ignore him and get on with things, then so could I.

Mara and Lola were doing well. Lola was truly a changed woman now and she spent more time munching on grass with Gwen and Alexa than she did moping with Mara. Mara was getting there slowly and ate readily at least, though her general attitude still stunk.

One thing that Will's reappearance had changed was the amount of socialising Chels did. Before we got together, I know she used to be quite the social butterfly. She'd hang around with Jules constantly, or you'd find her fishing with Denny or chatting with Gannon or playing with Charlie and Eliza. Since I moved to the island, it seemed that most of it stopped – she spent her time on the farm more often than not, and rarely had to go into town to do chores because all her biggest money-makers were on the farm now. Having Hugh around didn't help much as it meant she lost even more time to him – though he was pretty self-sufficient for a nine year old.

Will rocking up seemed to light a fire under her cos now she was constantly out having dinner with Jules and Elliot, checking in with Denny and Pierre, she even went off to the forest to see Mark and Alisa – the latter of which I knew made her feel pretty uncomfortable. When asked, she just said his presence had reminded her of how bad friends could be and how grateful she should be for the ones she did have.

So this left me alone pretty often, which meant I went around making the farm my own properly. All the paths that we had informally walked into the grass, I made proper with paving stones and fancy little borders of pebbles I'd gathered. I went around and fixed every loose screw and every squeaky hinge in all the buildings on site (apart from Hugh's door, which I left squeaky and free). I even had Gannon come round and help expand the textile mill so Lanna had a toilet and a small kitchenette where she could make coffee, and then the greenhouse so Chels could put her berry bushes in there. She had been using her mornings on the farm wisely and the "orchard" was now full of fairly mature saplings. They were still skinny little things, but they'd be fruit-bearing by the time the season came and the flower-patch/orchard area looked beautiful with half of it all in blossom in the spring sunlight. A small apiary consisting of three beehives stood nearby which Chels, Hugh and I had all installed together. It was obvious which one Hugh had made because it was a patchwork of planks of wood that I had to add after he was done to make it structurally secure, but he'd had a lot of fun making them and couldn't stop chattering about how impressed Lisette would be when she next came to visit. Judging by Chelsea's reaction when he said that, I had an inkling that she was schemin' a surprise visit for him, but she hadn't mentioned it to me so I acted dumb for Hugh's sake.

I stood up from the fence I was currently reinforcing, wiping my forehead and squinting against the glare of the sun. My poor eyesight meant I had to stoop real close to whatever handiwork I was doin', but I liked doin' it too much to quit for the sake of comfort. Deimos was off lying in the shade by the farmhouse – the weather had come in to April biblically and was leaving April hellishly and we were all suffering.

"Howdy partner." I heard from behind me, and I turned to see that Chels had returned, a smile on her face. "Hard at work, I see?"

"Only when you're not here." I winked and she frowned, looking around the farmland as I perched on my newly-hammered fence.

"So much has changed and I've not even paused to appreciate it." She murmured. "I'm sorry, Vaughn, the place looks amazing. I'm sorry I've been leaving you on your own so much as well." I reached out and pulled her to stand in front of me between my legs.

"Don't sweat it, I know it's been a weird week and it's good that you're reconnectin' with your friends."

"I feel like it's been a weird couple of _months_." She sighed, resting her chin on the top of my hat and leaving me to stare at her chest. "Ever since Jules and Elliot got married, we've not had proper peace. It's just been one thing after another."

"You mean since I moved to the island?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow at her left boob.

"Yes. Well no, not because you moved to the island, but since that time period, yes." She said, pulling back. "Eyes up top cowboy." She admonished and I grinned at her.

"Don't shove 'em in my face if you don't want 'em to get the attention." I teased and she laughed. Suddenly I was struck by how much I'd missed her over the last week, and I pulled her in again, burying my face in her stomach and not caring that it was a) too hot to be this close to someone and b) one of her most ticklish spots. "I've missed you." I mumbled and felt her fingers playing with the sweaty ends of my hair at the nape of my neck. "I see you every day, but I've really missed you this past week, Chels."

"I'm sorry." She replied gently, stroking the back of my head. "I've missed you too. I know we see more of each other now that you live here, but sometimes it feels like we see way less."

"At least when I was commutin' here we got a whole day of each other, now we're spreadin' it out across the week." I sighed, nuzzling my nose into the hollow between the tips of her rib cage. I heard her giggle and she squirmed in my hold.

"We should plan a trip." She said once she'd pulled back far enough that I couldn't tickle her any more. "Just us two, a whole week. Once everything's back to normal." Aka, once Will had fucked off from the island. I tried not to feel frustrated that he was dictating our lives without even being in them and focused on the idea of a week alone with my Chels.

"Sounds perfect." I smiled at her and pushed up off the fence. "In the meantime, let's go cool off inside and you can fill me in on all the gossip you've been gatherin' these past few days." She grinned at me and held her hand out for me to hold as we ambled our way to the house.

I flopped on the couch once we got in and she went about fixing us some iced tea and grabbing a punnet of raspberries from the fridge – pretty soon those would be home-grown, once she'd got the order in from Chen.

"Biggest news on the block I'd say is that Denny and Pierre have split." She said as she carried it all over. I felt my eyes go wide.

"For real? I thought they were solid." I should probably pay Denny a visit. We weren't super close anymore, but we'd used to be and he'd probably appreciate any company he could get.

"Mmm." Chels hummed as she popped a raspberry in her mouth. "They left it on okay terms but it wasn't a mutual decision. Apparently they just wanted different things out of the relationship. Denny didn't go into too much detail – something about Pierre needing a more stable future than he could see Denny offering. Denny's pretty torn up about it, it was the first chance he'd got to explore the guy side of his bisexuality and I think he'd had his heart pretty set on Pierre. They'd been together a while."

"He doin' alright?" I asked and she shook her head.

"I've been with him most of the afternoon. I only left cos he kicked me out. He's all brave face and bluster, really, but I'll head down there tomorrow and keep him company. He'd practically moved in with Pierre, I don't think he even remembers where half the stuff in his shack _is_."

"Poor guy." I sympathised, taking a handful of raspberries myself.

"I know." She sighed. "I'll do some fishing with him or something. It's been a while since I last did and I know it's something he never did with Pierre so it should be safe. Mealtimes are going to be hard though."

"He can always come up here if he wants a change of scenery. I don't mind entertainin' if you got other people to see." She beamed at me and I felt a fuzzy warmth in my chest at the knowledge that I'd said something good.

"You're such a softy." She said, pinching my cheek. "And I love you. I really _am_ sorry I'm not around as much."

"Chels, it's fine." I replied, rubbing my cheek slightly. "I'm not a guest you have ta entertain. I go see Aunt Bella and Celia, you get to see your friends too." I grinned at her before parroting, ""I'm a big boy", I can look after myself for a couple hours a day." She rolled her eyes but smiled back at me.

"Alright then, I'll go drag him out of bed tomorrow morning and force my company on him for a bit. How's everything doing outside?" And we spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on each other's lives until Hugh came back from school. Whatever was going to trigger the return of "normality" I hoped it happened soon, because I'd missed this. I'd missed _her_.

~.oOo.~

\- Chelsea -

I left my boys to it with the farm the next day (after Vaughn assured me they'd be okay and that I wasn't spending too much time apart from them) and headed off to the beach to see how Denny was doing. He'd really loved Pierre and they'd had such a happy, relaxed relationship. I couldn't imagine what had gone so wrong or what incompatibility had been so big that they couldn't make it work.

"Denny!" I yelled as I banged on his door. It was nastily early for him, but I figured the earlier I dragged his sorry arse out of the bed, the less time he could spend curled up in it. "Wakey wakey! Come on the fish are biting!"

"Chel _sea_." He groaned as the door opened to reveal his scantily dressed self. "It's 7AM in the morning. _What_ are you doing?" He yawned, eyes shut throughout his speaking.

"We're getting you up and outta bed and on the other end of a fishing rod." I declared. I know he'd got used to waking up earlier with Pierre and I didn't want him to think that everything about his routine had to change just because Pierre wasn't there anymore. Losing a partner is a big enough change in your life without everything else having to go with it. "Chop chop, otherwise all the good spots will get taken."

He gave me a huff and a groan, but disappeared behind his door again and returned with an unzipped hoodie on and his fishing gear in his hands.

"I hate you." He grumbled as he rubbed his eyes, and I handed over the coffee I'd prepared for the occasion. His eyes zeroed in on it and he grabbed it. "Maybe I hate you a little bit less." He said as he took a deep draught from the cup.

"Take in that fresh spring air!" I cooed as I set off at a marching pace to the spot we usually sat at by the pier. We sat down and started prepping our rods. "Doesn't it just make you want to tackle the world?"

"I know what you're doing." Denny said drily, casting his rod with one hand and gulping more coffee with the other. "And it's not working. But thanks."

I shrugged, not really expecting him to fall for any of my theatrics, and cast my own line out. After Shea, I only fished for sport. I always released the ones I caught back into the water unscathed, feeling far too guilty over the whole thing.

"Ahoy!" We heard from above us and I groaned internally as the platinum blond elephant on the beach appeared at the railing of his yacht behind us. I'd been hoping he'd be sleeping still, but he'd always been a morning person for as long as I known him. Guess it was too much to ask for that to have changed.

"Ahoy!" Denny greeted back, smiling in his usual friendly demeanour. It probably helped that Will was incredibly easy on the eye and Denny was newly single and vulnerable. Unless something else _had_ changed in the last year and a half, I'm afraid that Denny's chances were slim to none.

"Cecee!" He called and I audibly groaned as I looked up at him.

"Hi, Will." I said, defeated, reeling in my line and casting it afresh.

"I didn't know you partook in this particular hobby!" He cried, eyes sparkling blue as the sky and teeth shining white in the sun. Denny looked star struck next to me. "By Jove, what entertainment can be found through this? 'Tis just fish!"

"They're not just fish." I said, frowning at him and defending both mine and Denny's hobby. Denny didn't seem to have even figured out that we'd been insulted.

"They're not just fish!" Will repeated then; "They're M&S fish?" He replied and I couldn't stop the bark of laughter that escaped me. It was a joke our whole friendship group used to throw around back in the day, based on the adverts of the most expensive supermarket in the UK.

"More like M&S _wish_." I giggled. "You don't still shop there, do you?" I asked, voicing the thought before I could tell my mouth to stop. Will used to insist that all his food came from M&S or Waitrose. "You go in for some eggs, bread and milk and you come out having spent £15!"

"It's better than going to _Tesco_." He replied, sticking his nose in the air in (only slightly mock) snobbery at where I used to shop when I was at uni. "At least M&S know the difference between beef and horse."

"Didn't affect me anyway." I threw back at him. "This is why you shouldn't eat meat." I'd mostly given up the fish part of my pescetarianism now that I was earning and growing enough to eat otherwise. I was full-blown vegetarian again and proud of it. If anyone on the island wanted meat other than fish, they'd have to import it by boat because I wasn't killing one of my animals to feed them.

"But then I'd have to give up my 21 day matured tender rump steaks!" He cried in horror and I busted up laughing at the look on Denny's face as he stared at Will. It wasn't quite as star struck any more and more like he was witnessing an alien landing.

"Jog on, mate." I called at him, laughing still, "You're too much of a posho for Denny to handle, Tory boy."

"Takes one to know one, my fair _Chelsea_." He said as he ducked back from his railing and headed somewhere else on his boat, playing on the stereotypical pun of my name. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Denny.

"Sorry about him, he can be a bit much." Denny just smiled and shook his head.

"No worries dude, I didn't realise you were friends with him. He's been parked outside my shack for a while now, doesn't often do much more than walk up and down the beach."

"We're not friends." I quickly amended. "We just know each other from a while back. It's complicated." I bit my lip. It had been far too easy to fall back into old banter with Will. I wasn't worried about my feelings changing, but I was entertaining the idea that perhaps we could be those rare and mythical exes that stay friends...

"Ah. I see." Denny replied diplomatically. "Does Vaughn know about this "complication"?" He asked and I frowned.

"Yes, he does. And he doesn't own me. I'm allowed to have _complications_ from the past."

"Alright, alright!" He held his hands up in surrender. "Chill. I was just checking. Bros gotta look out for each other, y'know?" He said and I rolled my eyes. Considering I think it had been a good month or two since Denny and Vaughn had even last interacted, I thought that stretched "bro code" a bit thin.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I dismissed. I paused as Denny reeled in a fish as long as my arm and let it go again.

"New record, beat that!" He cheered, fist-pumping the air. I sighed and re-cast my line again.

"How was last night?" I asked as silence fell around us again. Denny's breathing hitched briefly before smoothing out again.

"Hard." He replied shortly. "It's difficult when you're used to sharing a bed with someone. It's a big change." Thinking back to all the nights in bed alone before Vaughn moved over, I could relate.

"I feel you dude." I sighed. "So what's the plan now?" I asked. "Just keep on with your search for the Big One?" He exhaled through his nose and laid his rod down on the pier next to us.

"I don't know Chelsea." He said very quietly. "I was happy spending my days doing that before...before. Days by the sea, evenings at the bar, dinners with friends. But everything's different now. I stopped caring about the Big One a long while ago and now I feel aimless. Pierre's got his restaurant, he's got his business, he'll be fine. I'm the one without the life plan, I'm the one without the _ambition_." He emphasised that last word so much that I knew it must have been quoting someone, presumably Pierre. "What do I have?"

"A large group of supportive friends." I replied firmly. "Who'll help you out any way you need. You're always welcome on the farm, Denny. There's plenty to be getting on with. Or if you want a complete change in scenery then Vaughn's got some connections in the city and Celia has even more. You pick a dream and we'll make it happen."

"The dream was Pierre." He said in an almost whisper, and my heart broke for him. I knew exactly how he felt – hell, last time I was in his position, I fled to America and started a new life on an abandoned island.

"It was." I agreed. "But there'll be other guys – and girls – D. I know it's not what you wanna hear or think about right now, but it's true. You can't make your life's dream a guy, they're not worth it. No one's worth it. You need to make it something for you, something about you, that someone can join you in but if they leave you still have a life to live without them."

"Couldn't you have told me that before this whole thing started?" He asked petulantly.

"I would have, if I'd had any warning of what was happening before you outed yourselves in Pierre's kitchen." I returned and he grinned sheepishly. "Look, I've been here before, everyone's situations are slightly different, but in a general sense I know what you're going through. You'll be fine. You'll make it through this. You need a sofa to kip on? Then you come stay at mine and we can watch horrible movies and eat ice cream." Denny laughed,

"I may have just been dumped by my boyfriend, but I'm still a _guy_ Chelsea."

"Why the gender stereotype?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "Who doesn't like movies and ice cream?" He laughed again and conceded. I put my rod down next to his and turned to him. "Pierre may not be a part of the picture any more, but you've got friends to support you. Do you want to come stay over for a bit?"

"Can I get back to you on that?" He asked, "I need to try it on my own first. It's a pride thing."

"I can respect that." I nodded, "Just let me know. Vaughn suggested it in the first place, so he's happy to have you round. Between you and me, I think he misses you, he's just too socially awkward to come and see you now it's been so long since you last hung out."

"He's a weird one." Denny nodded, laughing. "I'll come round for a visit sometime for sure, I just want to try roughing it on my own again and see if I can do a bit of soul searching through it."

"Sure, Denny, you just keep me in the loop." I picked up my rod again, "now come on, it may not be The Dream anymore, but catching the Big One would still be a nice perk." He chuckled and cast his rod, looking a lot cheerier than he had before.

~.oOo.~

The next day Vaughn told me he'd join me down at Denny's once he was done with the chores. So I ran off ahead at 6:30AM to wake up Denny at 7AM again and we went through much the same routine as the day before: groaning, grouching, coffee, fishing. Secretly I was thrilled that Vaughn would be coming to join us, I still felt like a school-girl with a crush around him half the time and it made my stomach flutter thinking about him coming down. It would be just like the day we met – only with less falling on top of one another (though I wouldn't complain).

Even Will sticking his head over his yacht railings again didn't dampen my excitement. He chattered at us for a bit, being as effervescent as ever and making Denny laugh just as much as me. If anything could be said in Will's favour, it was that he was the kind of guy you could bring to a party where he knew no one, and by the end of the night he'd have a running joke with everyone there. I think it was good for Denny, having someone as wacky as Will around and I felt only a little guilty at that thought, knowing that Vaughn was wishing with every fibre of his being for Will to jet-set off into the sunset, alone and ASAP.

The blond was still yammering his jaw when Vaughn arrived with us, squinting in the light. I knew he struggled in the summer – as this spring was turning out to be the start of – and I thought it was really sweet that he'd put himself through that just to check up on Denny. My stomach started fluttering again as I saw him arrive, and I jumped up off the pier and ran to him – just stopping myself shy of throwing myself at him in respect for Denny and his recent broken heart.

"I'd kiss you but I don't want to show off in front of Denny." I said, beaming up into his mauve eyes. "But I'm very, very, very excited that you're here and I feel like a school-girl waiting for her crush to walk past again." He smiled at me, and it set his whole face aglow with warmth as he did.

"I'd kiss ya too, but I don't reckon I'd be able to stop at PG." He winked at me and I grinned.

"Come on, come sit with us. Denny could use some adult company." I said, rolling my eyes towards Will up on deck who was making bizarre noises as Kuu flapped around his head, much to the crying amusement of Denny.

"Aha! The cowboy appears!" Will cried, finally waving Kuu off him. "Greetings! Or should I say, "Howdy partner"?" He said the last without even attempting an accent and it sounded ridiculous in his voice. I joined Denny in his laughter as Vaughn scowled and growled out,

"Piss off."

Will slanted a look at me and I knew he was going to duck out now that Vaughn was here. It made me feel awkward to remember that the guy still had feelings for me, no matter how friendly he may come across. In equal measures though, it felt so nice to have someone who had so much common ground with me. I got shipwrecked here alone – no friends, no family. No one on the island's known me for any longer than I've been here and despite the reminders of my family that he brought with him, it felt so _good_ to have someone who'd known me for longer than a year back in my life.

"To quote Jack Whitehall," Will started, ""Sticks and stones may break my bones, but fuck it, I'm with BUPA."" He called and disappeared. I won't lie, I just about died as I collapsed on the pier, howling with laughter.

Denny and Vaughn were both watching me, completely oblivious.

"Who's Jack Whitehall?" Denny asked at the same time that Vaughn asked,

"The fuck is boopa?" I wiped the tears from my eyes and sat down next to Denny.

"He's a comedian." I directed at Denny, "And BUPA is a private health insurance company." I said to Vaughn. "British humour and all that."

"Oh well in _that_ case..." Vaughn grumbled and sat down on Denny's other side. "Didn't realise y'all were chattin' so much." He grouched.

"Oh come on Vaughn." I sighed. "He's kind of hard to avoid what with his boat sitting _right behind us_." Denny shifted uncomfortably between us and I heard Vaughn groan and sigh.

"Sorry, sorry." He muttered and then struck up a conversation with Denny.

~.oOo.~

\- Vaughn -

I continued to go down and meet up with Chels and Denny in the mornings. It was a nightmare on my eyes and head, but it seemed like Denny really appreciated it. It was kinda nice to chat with him as well – we'd established a sort of friendship before but it had fizzled out once we both got obsessed with our respective partners. I was getting what Chels meant with seeing her friends loads now – it felt good to know I had a friendly face outside of my relationship with her.

With the way things were goin' with Will, it looked like I was going to need it as well. Every fuckin' day I'd walk down there to the guy chattin' with Chels and Denny. I hadn't really cared about him until he started making Chels laugh so hard she had to sit down. It had been a long time since I'd made her laugh like that, and I'm man enough to admit that I was jealous. The most frustratin' thing was that I didn't really have a cause to be jealous – Chels had made sure that I knew she only felt friendly feelings towards the guy, and I knew she weren't about to run off on me with him, but it made me pissed as fuck to know he still had intentions on her and she was havin' more fun with him than she was me.

One day it was jokes about a pig and some politician guy, another day it had moved on to them gossipin' about all the people they both knew back in England. Turns out their joint group was very big, cos they had a _lot_ to talk about with that one. I wasn't hiding my angst all that well either. I was tryna make sure Denny didn't suffer for it, but in some way I think it was helping the guy – showing him all the things _not_ to miss about a relationship. I could tell that Chels was getting frustrated with me though. She couldn't understand why I was feelin' the way I was and that annoyed me because I knew that if roles were reversed, she'd be a green-eyed monster from the start. If roles were reversed though, I'd probably not even speak to my ex, so I guess there was the fundamental difference between us. Chels was a friendlier girl than I was a guy and she wasn't about to ignore someone who'd known her for two and a half years.

All in all I just wanted the guy _gone_ , but I also knew that if we didn't reach some kind of conclusion whilst he was here that the issues this had exposed would stick with us once he left.

Yeah, not just a hat-rack, my friend.

The only problem was, I could do jack shit about it all. Chels shut down and got all prickly with me whenever I commented or tried to bring it up and Will weren't doing nothin' but making it worse with his _British humour_ shit and poor Denny was sat in the middle of us, working through his own crap whilst weakly mediating ours. Every day it was the same and it was driving me nuts. We were halfway through May for fuck's sake, and all I could see happening was this guy who's crushin' on my girl tryin' to muscle his way in on our thing. So maybe I'm insecure – sue me. Knowin' that did fuck all to help me when I was in the situation, faced with Chelsea crying with laughter from some weird-ass joke the dickhead had made.

All I wanted was to just live in peace with the woman I loved and the kid we looked after – a kid who was having to spend a lot more time entertainin' his sister in the mornings now that we were both down on the beach 'til lunch.

When shit got too tough – like currently, with the Shit with a Ship throwin' out jokes like they'd gone off – I'd sit with my bare feet in the sea that I couldn't look at, stare at my lap and daydream. I'd dream of what it'd be like once things had settled down, where Chels and I would go for that trip she'd mentioned and what heights we'd take the farm to. I'd imagine us getting married and what our kids would look like and what they'd be like. I'd imagine how we'd bring them up right – better than either of our parents managed – and how they'd be able to stay the night at Hugh's once he was all grown up and do stuff with their "cool older brother" whilst Chels and I'd have a quiet evening in, probably walkin' round the farmhouse picking up toys littered all over the place. I'd imagine Deimos runnin' around with a little toddler runnin' after him and Chels scolding the tot from the door of the chicken coop whilst I sheared a nice, happy, normal sheep.

And then I'd be brought back to Earth by the sound of my cowgirl screechin' with joy over something another man was sayin' to her.

"I'm goin' off to Celia's." I muttered to Denny, standing up and rolling my trousers down. Chels didn't even notice she was laughing so hard.

"Alright, man." He said, giving me a concerned look. "Stay strong."

"Shouldn't I be sayin' that to you?" I asked and left before Chels could notice me stropping off.

I shook the sand off me and shoved my boots back on as I reached West town and moped off to East town to see Celia and Hugh. The little guy was running round like a loon out back when I arrived, so I just went straight inside to see if I could get a chat from Celia about it all.

"Vaughn!" I heard from the kitchen as I was taking my shoes off again and I turned to see her head poking out the doorway, smiling at me. "What brings you here?"

"What, am I not welcome?" I asked, aiming for teasing, but when she frowned I sighed and apologised. She wasn't my Chels and she couldn't shake off my attitude as well as my cowgirl could. "Sorry, sorry. Feelin' a bit stressed."

"Oh no, what's going on?" She asked, "Here, come in here and I'll get you a glass of milk." I walked into her tiny-ass kitchen, slumped at her table and started speaking before she'd even finished pouring the milk.

I told her everything I could think of – Will arriving on Chels's birthday, how Chels had seemed so disinterested in knowing the guy anymore but suddenly was being real chummy with him. How she'd reassured me a million times that she loved me and only saw Will as a friend and how embarrassed I was feeling with myself for not being able to accept that and shrug off all that was happening. She refilled my glass twice before I was done and I made a quiet note to give her some of Gwen's milk on the house. When I'd finished she stayed quiet for a bit with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Have you told Chelsea about how you've been feeling?" She asked, "because – and I'm not picking sides here – but it does sound like the last time you spoke about it, you'd told her to just take it day by day and that if she wanted to talk to him then she could." I sighed.

"When you put it like _that_ then yeah, I look like a dick. But every time I try to talk to her, she shuts me down, and it's obvious that I'm not comfortable with it. It's not like her to avoid the conversation like she has been. Normally she's the one to _initiate_ this shit – she _hates_ having misunderstandings between us. She doesn't let things fester, that's the opposite of her M.O."

Celia went quiet again and thought for a few minutes. I sipped on my milk and felt true appreciation of having a friend.

"I think you're just gonna have to rip the bandaid off, Vaughn." She said. "Go back home and when she comes in just force the conversation. You're right, it's not like her to avoid it and I know she loves you desperately – I saw what she was like when you were still commuting here and I don't think that's changed. But something obviously has. Maybe she's unsettled with having her past appear in front of her and this is the way she's chosen to deal with it, maybe she's genuinely enjoying his company, I don't know – but neither of us are going to be able to say why what's happening is happening. The only person who can help you with that is Chelsea, and you need to make sure she can't get out of talking about it if she tries. Both of you do a lot for each other, but sometimes you have to do something for yourself, and this is something you need to do for your own mental well-being."

I took it all in and felt a weight liftin' off my shoulders. I could do a conversation with Chels. That was so totally doable. Maybe she'd be a bit prickly at first, but she was pretty sensible overall – she always tried to understand both sides of the story.

"Thanks Celia. You've no idea how much I've needed to talk to someone about this." I sighed.

"No problem, you know I'm always here. I'll keep Hugh for the night so don't you worry. We've got enough stuff here now that you don't have to pack him a bag – just get home and sort it all out." I reached out and gave her a hug which surprised us both and thanked her again before heading outside.

"Hey squirt!" I yelled over to Hugh who was kicking a ball around. "You up for a sleepover here tonight?"

"For real?" He asked, grinning. The blessed boy was always so happy, no matter where we were shipping him 'round to. I nodded. "Awesome!" He cried, then did a small lap in a circle with his shirt over his head. "See ya tomorrow!" He yelled and I waved at him and headed back to the farm.

Celia was right, the only person who could give me answers was Chels, and God knew I needed them by this stage.

~.oOo.~

I'd been polishing the floors with all the pacin' I'd been doing waiting for Chels when she came rocketin' in through the front door, hair all messed up, bandana askew and lungs working double-time to keep up with her.

"Julia's pregnant!" she screeched through her pants.

"No shit?" I gaped, dropping the apple I'd been tossin' around and all thoughts of the conversation I'd been about to hold left my mind immediately.

"She just told me! She's two months along."

"Jesus, they didn't wait long did they?" I laughed then ran forwards to scoop a beaming Chels up in my arms. "Congratulations to her! I'll have to go see her – I am allowed to know, right?" Chelsea rolled her eyes.

"As her cousin, I think you're allowed to know, yes. She told me to pass the message along when I next saw you."

"Perfect!" I had a silly grin on my face now and I could tell, but the idea of someone of our generation having kids was gettin' me all broody again. I felt my hand automatically slip down to Chels's lower belly. "God can you imagine? A tiny human in here?" I laughed again. Chels chuckled, but it sounded kinda strained and she gently pushed me away from her.

"Steady on cowboy, we're not quite there yet." She said, taking a step back. I rolled my eyes.

"Course not, but someday maybe. Sorry, Chels, I'm just getting broody."

"Of course you get to be _broody_ , _you're_ not the one who would have to _shit out a baby_." She scowled and moved away from me completely. I frowned, confused why she was reacting so strongly when just last month she was laughing off whatever comments I made. I thought she knew I wasn't going to pressure her into anything, and it's not like I thought we were actually ready to raise a _baby_ for fuck's sake. We could barely keep _Hugh_ in the house for a solid week with all the drama we had goin' on.

"Is that where the babies come from? If so, then we've putting it in the wrong place for a while now." I joked and she didn't even crack a smile.

"I'm 21, Vaughn, personally I'm not ready yet to do that to my body." She crossed her arms and gave me a disapproving look like I was a kid myself.

"Yeah, Chels, I know that. I ain't tryna pressure you, it was just a joke." I held my hands up in surrender. "What gives? We were laughin' about this shit a month ago."

"I just think you need to slow down." She mumbled. "It's funny a couple of times, but not when you keep going on about it."

"Keep goin' _on_ about it? I've mentioned it about three times ever!" I fought back. "I'm not being _serious_ , I'm not about to flush your pills down the toilet or anything!"

"Well then stop _joking_ about it!" She all but yelled. "It's not funny!"

Something in me snapped at that and I gave up trying to understand where she was coming from.

"Well no, I don't suppose it is. I'm sorry I'm not as funny as your main man, _Sir William_."

"Will's got nothing to do with this, Vaughn, don't bring him into it." She looked so damned disappointed in me, I couldn't take it. I moved over to the door and grabbed my jacket, shoving my feet back into my boots.

"You sure about that, Chels? You really sure?" I asked as I threw my hat back onto my head. "Think about what kinda personality you're showin' and if that person would be here right now if Blondie hadn't turned up." I opened the door and turned to leave. "You're more rational than this. I'm going to stay at Aunt Bella's. Hugh's staying at Celia's overnight. Come see me when you want to." And I stormed out, letting the door slam behind me.

So much for all my fantasies of married life and a future. Looks like it's back to the old bachelor room at my aunt's for me.

 **Chapter End.**

 **A/N:** **I'M SORRY FOR BREAKING UP DENNY AND PIERRE! I have other plans for Denny, don't worry, the two just didn't have a long-term future together. Like Monica and Richard from FRIENDS – they loved each other, but their future pathways just didn't match up :(**

 **Brit notes to explain some of the jokes made in this chapter for those who aren't from the UK:**

 **M &S and Waitrose are very expensive supermarkets we have over here. M&S especially so – they do ridiculous products and marketing campaigns including some adverts back in the noughties that basically said how their food was better than any other and ended with the tagline "It's not just xyz food, it's M&S xyz food" (where xyz was Christmas or summer or Easter or whatever).**

 **Tesco: Tesco is a more affordable supermarket, but the joke here is that a few years ago there was a scandal where one of Tesco's suppliers had been less than reputable and it turned out that their mince in their spag bol was actually 60% horse meat or something. Yeah. It was gross. Vegetarianism FTW.**

 **Posho: slang for someone very posh**

 **Tory boy: joking about how Will is a Tory – or someone who supports the Conservative party whose manifestos tend to appeal more to the upper-middle to upper classes.**

 **Chelsea pun: Chelsea is also the name of a very affluent area in south west London.**

 **Jack Whitehall: British comedian who's quite posh and hilarious.**

 **BUPA: Private health insurance company over here.**

 **Politician and the pig: Y'all heard that story about our good ol' ex-PM sticking his dick in a dead pig's mouth when he was at uni? No? Google it.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** **Brit notes at the end again.**

 **Chapter 14.**

\- Chelsea -

Guilt set in immediately after Vaughn's departure but I knew better than to chase after him. He'd been pushed too far and he needed time away from me to calm down. If I was being honest with myself, I probably needed time to find my headspace again, so I grabbed my rucksack and headed for the most peaceful place I knew of on the island.

With the new path I'd basically walked through the underbrush, it didn't take me long to reach the Harvest Goddess's pond, and once I was there I collapsed on the bank with a sigh.

What was going on in my life?

I _knew_ Vaughn wasn't okay with the Will thing. I knew it and I'd still cut him off at every avenue because I didn't want to have the conversation because I _was_ enjoying the Will thing. I'd been trying to avoid admitting it to myself, let alone to Vaughn, but having Will around was actually really fun. Gannon was great and all, but he was a whole separate generation to me and there were only so many things being from the same country could connect you by. But Will...I'd known Will for years now, he knew all my friends, we'd grown up in very similar environments and well, he was a fun guy to be around. Everyone here on the island had someone in their lives – contactable by phone at least – who had known them before they moved here. Everyone had someone in their lives that could ground them and remind them that life existed before the island. Maybe my life before wasn't all that great, but what was the point in forgetting it all? How would I grow from that? And since I crashed here, I had been brick-by-brick fencing it away from my consciousness, trying to delete the childhood that made me who I was. I didn't have to like the memories or the people in them to appreciate what they helped me become. I liked who I was now, so they had to be good for something.

Will had unleashed that again. And yeah, it was awkward, my ex and my current boyfriend sitting in the same area, especially when it was still obvious that Will held a flame for me, but it reminded me of who I am – I'm not just Chelsea the farmer who's settled in with a live-in boyfriend and a nine year old kid, I'm also Chelsea the 21-year-old who had her whole life ahead of her. I'm Chelsea who came from the posh ends of London and ended up in the shit ends, I'm Chelsea who worked in New Look for a year and had to pawn off her stuff to make ends meet, I'm Chelsea who played polo as a teenager. There are a lot of contradictions in my past, and it was far easier to run from it, but Will arriving meant that I couldn't. He knew the Chelsea from before my parents kicked me out and he knew the Chelsea from after. I'd neglected all that up until now and now I was having to reassess myself, figure out if all that was just a part of my past which I've now acknowledged, or if I still _wanted_ some of that in my present. Had I grown up too soon? Was I trying to be older than I actually am? Should I be letting my hair loose more and living up the life like Celia, or should I be settling in like Julia? Should I be wanting to party and sow my oats or should I be thinking up baby names with Vaughn?

"Chelsea?" I heard from behind me and I jumped at the voice. I turned around to see Mark stood in front of me, a basket full of wildflowers in one arm. "Is everything okay?" I felt myself well up with tears and a quiet whine started up in the back of my throat.

"Everything's going wrong Mark, and I don't know what to do." I said, and he frowned; hurrying over to my side. He put the basket down next to him as he sat down.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"My ex from my life before the island has turned up and we've been getting along really well and I don't _like_ him like that, but he's been reminding me of how young I really am still and all that I could be doing with life and Vaughn's been getting jealous of how well I get on with him and then he started talking about babies and I freaked out at him and he left and I don't know what to do!" I said all at once, words tripping over themselves. "I don't know what kind of person I want to be, I don't know if I want to be young and free and live like the 21 year olds back home do. I don't want to leave Vaughn but I don't know if I can deal with conversations about _children_! We already have Hugh – I'm already a 21 year old who is a full time caregiver for a 9 year old – but I'm so _happy_ here on the farm. I know I am, I know I loved the life I was living before Will rocked up here, but now he's here and it's making me question things and I just don't know what the right path to choose is!"

"Okay, okay." Mark soothed, resting a gentle hand on my shoulder as I dropped my arms from the mad gesticulating they'd been doing. "Think it through. Think it all through carefully. Let's go through your options." His relationship with Alisa had obviously rubbed off on him, because there was no way his voice was ever this calming before he got together with her. "Option one: you up and leave the island and go back to London with this Will fellow and, I dunno, go back to uni or something. Have fun and sow your oats, as you said. Can you see yourself doing that?"

"No." I shook my head miserably. "No, I don't want to leave. I couldn't do that to the island and I couldn't put that pressure on Vaughn and Hugh to keep things running. And I'd be miserable. I love what I do here, I don't want to give it up."

"Okay then. Option two: you stay here and take a break from Vaughn. You come up with a new schedule for Hugh with Celia where he's not such a big responsibility for you. You're a free agent and you can do what you want in your spare time and go out to the bars in town and have at it."

"No." I shook my head again, starting to feel a bit calmer and more secure as I saw the direction this was going in. "It'd break my heart for Hugh to move out. I can't imagine having his room empty and his little green dining chair gathering dust. And I get to do what I want in my spare time now anyway. Vaughn doesn't hold me back from socialising, he doesn't try to tell me what I can and can't do. He doesn't impose on my freedom at all. He didn't even tell me not to speak to Will, despite how uncomfortable he was about it for the past couple of weeks. All the time I choose to spend with him is time I choose to, not because I feel like he demands it of me." God what had I done, laying into him earlier like that? The last time he felt this emotionally uncertain about something, he'd shut down and ran back to the city. And now that he wasn't shutting down, now that he was actually trying to open up to me, I had a go at him and made him feel even more isolated than he probably already did.

"Option three: You carry on exactly as you are right now, hanging out with Will and splitting the rest of your time with Vaughn and Hugh."

I paused at this one. "I mean, something obviously has to change." I ventured, "Things can't stay the same because what's currently happening is causing problems. But...Jesus, it's just it's going to be hard to say goodbye to Will again. It was hard enough the first time, and now I'm finally getting all the friendship bits back with none of the relationship issues, it's like I've really got a friend again – one who knows me in a different way to everyone else. I love Vaughn, but I don't know how to say goodbye to that either."

"It's okay." Mark said again, resting his hand on my shoulder as I started to get upset again. "Final option then: you go and find Vaughn. You apologise for your fight and you explain the situation to him in a totally honest and open way as you have to me."

"And then what?" I asked, dread already settling in my stomach.

"And then you go from there." He shrugged. "If you need more guidance then we'll always be here for you, and the Harvest Goddess will always be looking over you."

' _That's true in a more literal sense than you realise, mate.'_ I thought as I shakily stood.

"Right." I said, clapping my hands together. "Right. Talking. I can do talking. I'll just go talk to him. Jesus Christ." I sighed again. "Thanks Mark." I turned to him, but he and his flowers were already gone.

Shaking my head at the strange conversion he had gone through, I moved back through the trees, across the bridge and into West town. From this height I could see the cause of everything's yacht moored in the harbour to my right, and the little house with the horse-shoe on the door to my left.

I headed left and paused once I reached the threshold. I wasn't used to knocking when entering Mirabelle's, but felt like I should announce my presence this time, given the circumstances. I reached up and knocked. A few seconds later and the door was opened by a cheery Mirabelle.

"Chelsea! Come in dear, come in." She said, ushering me in. "Are you here for Julia? She's not in at the moment." She asked me and it dawned on me that this was still the same day that Jules had made her announcement. Mirabelle was going to be a grandmother and here I was making such a fuss that Vaughn and I had had to bring our relationship shit over here to rain on her parade.

"I'm actually here for Vaughn, if he's around? But congratulations, Mirabelle! You must be so excited!" She beamed at me, walking off towards Vaughn's old room.

"Oh yes, he came in a few hours ago looking terribly depressed. Wouldn't say a word to me, of course, but I figured you be round to sort him out soon enough." She winked at me, and I winced at the automatic assumption that Vaughn was in the wrong or was overreacting whereas it was me who'd fucked up this time. "But oh, it is so exciting isn't it? Barely halfway through my forties and a granny already!" She laughed. Weirdly, that helped bolster me as I stood in front of Vaughn's door. If Mirabelle – hardly old enough to be viewed as a granny – wasn't having an existential crisis, then surely I could get through mine and come out just fine.

"Harder still because you barely look thirty-five to me!" I replied and she giggled, slapping me on the arm.

"Oh shush you!" She said as she bustled away, leaving me to look at the plain wood of Vaughn's door. I stood there for a long moment, hesitating at the last hurdle until the door opened on its own. Stood behind it was my cowboy; hatless and jacketless, stood in a t-shirt and soft cotton tracksuit bottoms.

"Y'all comin' in?" He asked me, with a raised eyebrow and I nodded, blushing and unable to meet his eyes. He pushed off the doorway and let me duck under his arm before he shut the door behind me again. I heard the swish of fabric as he sat down on his bed and turned in his general direction, still unable to look at him properly.

"I, um." I started, before coughing and trying again. "I wanna start by saying I'm sorry." I made sure to look up at him as I said it. His face was pretty impassive, but it seemed to soften slightly around his eyes. "I – there's a lot of crap going on in my head right now and I haven't been able to sort it out by myself. I know you've got a lot going on in yours as well, and it probably would have made the most sense to try and sort it out together, but half of the stuff that was going on in my head meant that I wouldn't allow myself to have that conversation with you in case it went in a direction I didn't want it to. Still, I – I really overreacted with the whole baby thing. I know I did. You're right, I know you're only joking, I know it's a standing line between us now and I know you'd never _ever_ pressure me into anything like that." I'd moved to kneel on the floor in front of him so our eyes were level and I rested my hands on his knees to keep my balance. "I was just having a bit of an existential moment and flipped out at you. It was wrong of me to do that, and I'm really sorry I accused you like I did. I know you've been wanting to have a talk about the whole Will thing, and I know it shouldn't have been up to me to decide when it was okay for you to open up to me, and I'm sorry for that too, but I'm ready and all ears now, if you want to talk about it." His expression was definitely gentle now, and he tugged lightly at my wrist.

"Get up off the floor, you loon." He admonished, and I clambered onto the bed next to him. "I'm gonna come right out and say it then – I'm jealous of you and Will. I know I've no reasonable excuse to be – I know you're not gonna run off with him, and I know you only view him as a friend, but the issue in my head is that he _isn't_ just a friend. You guys loved each other once, you've travelled together, stayed together, slept together. Y'all are friendly now, but I can't get my head round feeling secure about it all knowing that you were once so much more." I could tell he'd put his brave face on, because he was staring more at my nose than my eyes and I wondered how long he'd thought about what he was going to say to phrase it so neutrally.

"I've been self-focused, I know." I admitted. "I didn't want to hear you say that because I didn't want to have to give up what I've found, but that's not fair to either of us if I withhold the opportunity for us both to lay our cards on the table. I like Will. Purely platonically, but it's there. No one here on the island has known me for any longer than our inhabitancy. Everyone else here's got someone who's known them for longer than a year, and I've got _no one_. Even back home, I don't have anyone. In my life before the island, Will was the only real social relation I had. Him arriving here has brought back a lot of my past – and it's screwed with me in the head, seeing how different his life is to mine when we're both the same age – but it's also brought back the good bits, the friendship bits, the cultural bits that I grew up with that no one else here can give me. I don't want to live anywhere else than here, I don't want to have to go back to the UK to get a taste of the UK. No one else here has to leave to have their in-jokes on their shared culture. It just so happens that the only taste of the UK that can come to me is in the form of Will. I don't view it as my ex hanging around anymore, I view it as a human that knows me in a way different to everyone else here hanging around. Mirabelle and Jules know you differently to how I know you, and Celia knows you differently still. Having that variety around you is important, and I miss that. I don't want to go back to the life I had before, I don't want to leave you, or Hugh, or the farm, or any of it. But I don't want to have to say goodbye to the one person who I can share childhood jokes with. It wouldn't be saying goodbye to my ex, it'd be saying goodbye to my childhood." I sat nervously waiting on his reply. I was basically saying I wanted my cake and I wanted to eat it, too, but I had to be honest with him.

He sighed and reached out to stroke me face.

"I'm just absolutely nuts about you, Chels," He started, looking at me with soft mauve eyes. "It drives me crazy to think that someone could swoop in and take you away. You're right; we were raised in different countries; we know different politics; we watched different TV shows. Y'all talk about Primark and I talk about Walmart. I don't know who Fenton the dog is. It's hard seeing you click that well with someone else over things I can't connect with. It's even harder knowing you used to love the guy and you guys dated longer I've known you. I'm really tryin', Chels, but I don't know how to deal with these feelings. You're my first girlfriend, the first woman I've loved, I'm new to this jealousy and insecurity stuff." He breathed out his nose slowly. "I trust you. I believe you. I know you don't fancy the guy and when you put it all like that, then I'd be a right dick to demand you fuck him off for me. But I don't think I can be around it when you guys interact, I just get too jealous over it all. If y'all need a dose of Britain, then you can go get it, but I think I'd rather stay behind from now on. Besides, the guy's gotta leave at some point, doesn't he? He's still got a life goin' on in England."

I basically collapsed into his arms with relief. Very few other people I knew would have heard me in this situation and I was so grateful that my cowboy had. And if the compromise was that I'd have to go have a cup of PG tips with Will without him, but get to come home to him still then I'd take it.

"Yeah, he does have to leave. And soon, too, really." I said into his chest. "I don't know how long he's meant to be staying for, actually. But it's just nice to know that I can keep in touch with him when he does leave and we'll be okay. We will be okay, right?"

"'Course we will, darlin'." He said, hugging me. "You just keep the details on your other man to a minimum with me and put a sock on the door when you wanna phone him and we'll be fine." I started to laugh at the image that brought up, and then found that I couldn't stop as I imagined more and more ridiculous scenarios of Vaughn walking in on me and Will eating tea and biscuits in our sordid love affair as he filled me in on who were the favourites for Eurovision that year. By the time I calmed down, he was looking pleased as punch, and I broke out into a fresh wave of giggles.

"I love you, cowboy." I said, leaning up and pressing a kiss to his lips. "And I'm sorry for bottling things up and taking it out on you when you tried to open up to me. And I promise, I won't go see Will every day any more – it'd do Denny some good to move away from the beach once in a while anyway, he can come to us. Just knowing that any interaction I have with Will won't come between us immediately makes me feel a lot less like I need to see him. I guess the stress of the uncertainty made me seek comfort in nostalgia's arms, and I'm sorry."

"Chels, we're good." He said, running his hand through the length of my hair. "I'm sorry I walked out on you again, but I didn't wanna stay and say something I'd regret." I shook my head.

"Apology heard but not required. I was over-reacting. I was freaking out about feeling too young for this life, but its fine. I talked it through with Mark of all people, and I'm fine. If we keep our relationship as honesty-based as it is now, then I can definitely see kids in our future and I'm not afraid to admit that anymore." His face lit up at my words and a new wave of guilt hit me. He was always so careful not to pressure me, knowing how young and fresh to this all I was. But he was the one who was 27 and starting to think ahead in his life more. It wouldn't kill me to give the guy some reassurance for the distant future at least.

"Come on, it's gettin' to be dinnertime." He said, heaving me off him and standing up. "Let's go back home and have a nice evening in together. I think we've earnt it." Climbing off the bed after him, I pulled him in for a kiss first and I tried to pour all of my love, appreciation and admiration for him into it. It was ridiculous to be getting commitment jitters after 8 months of the man proving himself time and time again how good he was, both for and to me.

No one else would ever compare to Vaughn, he was it for me.

~.oOo.~

\- Vaughn -

After mine and Chels's chat at Aunt Bella's, things improved dramatically. I'd not thought of how Chels must feel out here with only Gannon and Eliza for company – it was never a choice she'd actively made like most immigrants do, and it must have been tough. America was only ever meant to be a holiday, not a home. Havin' her explain it to me the way she did made me feel way better about her interactions with Will, and seein' as I could still make her laugh 'til she cried, my ego was soothed too.

We had a new system now where every few days she'd seek me out, give me a kiss, and tell me she'd be back later. It wasn't much different to how she'd say goodbye before going off to see Jules or Denny, but somethin' in me knew it when it was Will she was going off to see. She was spending more time on the farm now as well, balancin' her schedule a lot better between friends and home. Sometimes she'd come back home kinda subdued and she'd quietly tell me something that Will had said that upset her or reminded her of the bad times back in England. Obviously, I'd do my best at these times to cheer her up – and I always managed it, so I must be doing somethin' right – but I couldn't help but feel a little bit smug when it did happen. It proved to me that it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows with Will and that _I_ was still her first port of call whenever she had a problem. And really, that's what's most telling, ain't it? Anyone can be happy with anyone, but it's who you turn to when shit gets real that shows who y'all really trust.

Denny ended up staying with us for a weekend just to get back into the swing of life and a new babysitter for Hugh was born. The two got on like a house on fire. He seemed to be doing better, one month down the line, but I knew he still felt kind of aimless. The island was a weird place to be for someone of his age – he was only a couple years older than Chels and I knew he found it hard seeing how she had it all together already and he was still tryna figure it all out. He'd started socialising more in the evenings at least and I knew he went to the café where Celia worked relatively often, so at least he wasn't sat 'round his shack mopin' all the time – and it meant he was hangin' out with some other people in a similar situation to him. Being around other young single people who were working part-time jobs just for the sake of it was helping him settle into the unattached lifestyle again. L&C, Chelsea's and Lanna's ridiculous fashion line, had expanded its merchandise to carry cotton-based clothes now that Chels was harvesting it in droves. Denny had helped out with that whilst he'd stayed – acting as a live mannequin for Lanna and even posing for some photos to help promote her clothes.

The first weekend of June brought the surprise that I'd guessed Chels had planned when Popuri and Lisette arrived to stay on the island for two days. Chels was off seeing Will when they rocked up on the farm, so I was the one to answer the door to them.

"No Karen or Rick?" I asked Popuri as Hugh jumped up from his seat in front of the TV and dragged Lisette off to the flower patch, chatterin' before he'd even reached her. "Want anything to drink?"

"Just water, thanks!" She replied as she moved into the house, removing her sunhat and took a seat at the kitchen table. It was nice havin' someone around who had to sit inside sometimes as well. "And no, they've been having...issues." She said carefully. "I hoped having a weekend together would help them sort things." Thinkin' on the few times I'd seen them together, I wasn't surprised. If they were that bad in front of company, then god knew what they were like behind closed doors. I was glad that Lisette had been pulled out of it for a couple of days.

"That must put you in an awkward position." I said, handing her her glass and joining her at the table. She sighed.

"It does. I've known them both my whole life, they're both like my siblings. They rushed into it all very fast and I know that works for some people, but it didn't for them." Taking a sip of her water, she continued. "Between you and me, I don't think they'd have stayed together if it hadn't been for Lisette coming along. But now I have them both chatting my ears off about each other and I hate being stuck in the middle!" She pouted.

"Can't you tell them both to just bugger off and leave you outta their shit?" It's what I would do. She giggled at me,

"Thanks Vaughn, you always manage to cheer me up." I blinked at her. "So how are things around here? How are Mara and Lola?"

"Lola's doin' real well." I replied, thinking of the happy cow. "Mara's gettin' there. Otherwise we've just been busy. You see the orchard on your way up?"

"Oh yes, it's beautiful! Whose idea was that?"

"Chels's idea, my plan, her execution. She's been doin' a lot of stuff off-farm recently though, so I've been goin' round putting finishin' touches on things."

"I noticed the pathways were tiled now. Very nice."

"Thanks." I said, ducking my head at the compliment. We continued on with the small-talk for a while and I found myself relaxing into it. 9 months ago and I'd never have even let her in the house in the first place, now I was offerin' drinks and chatting about random day-to-day stuff that I used to only be able to talk to Chels about and not find it borin'. I guess this is what happens when you make friends – you start to care about what they do with their time and if things in their lives are good and then suddenly small talk isn't a chore anymore.

Popuri stayed for a couple of hours and the kids ran in and out at various intervals for food, drink and entertainment. The weather was stunnin' these days and Hugh was covered head to toe in a tan which I caught Lisette complimenting. Chels arrived home just as Popuri was leaving and I saw that her eyes were kinda red like she'd been crying. She managed a polite hello and goodbye to Popuri and reassured her that it was fine for Lisette to stay for dinner and then she was boiling the kettle she'd had me bring over from the city months ago and making herself a cup of some of the teabags she'd got from Will. I knew something serious had happened then, because she rarely used those teabags because she couldn't get any more very easily.

"Chels?" I asked, moving to take over her tea making so she could sit down. "What's up?"

"Will's gone." She said simply, putting the sugar spoon back into the sugar pot with a clatter. "Set sail just now."

"Oh." I said quietly. I was torn between elation that I'd get my girlfriend back in the afternoons now, and sympathy for her. Okay, so it was mostly elation, I ain't no saint. "You get his number?"

"Yeah." She sniffed. "It's fine Vaughn, it was just weird saying goodbye again. Last time I thought it was final, and it's hard reminding myself that that's not the case anymore. I just need to busy myself up and sleep it off and I'll be fine."

"Alright." I said gently, sitting her down on her side of the couch. "Well we're goin' to be plenty busy with those two over here tonight." I said, nodding to the screeches that were coming from outside. She smiled,

"Pretty sure that's the splash of my watering hole water I hear being sloshed all over the place." I groaned, realising that we were going to have to shove Lisette in some of Hugh's clothes for the evening now. "You slackin' in your babysittin' duties, Partner?" She asked in her poor southern accent impression.

"You try to control them both!" I protested. "They're constantly actin' like they've eaten some of Wada's mushrooms!"

"Ahh, young love." She teased. "Did you have a nice time with Popuri? I asked for her to come especially."

"You did?" I asked, surprised. No wonder she'd refused to tell me she was planning this then. She nodded. "Thanks." I blushed. "And yeah, she was alright. Says Karen and Rick aren't doin' too great though, so it worked out pretty well that you invited her anyway."

"Can't say I'm surprised." She said. "Poor Karen. Rick's awful, I don't know how they ended up together."

"Listen to us!" I admonished, "like a pair of gossipin' old ladies. This how it's gonna be from now on? We sit over tea and put judgement on everyone else's relationships?" Chels looked lightly sheepish, but grinned nonetheless.

"Why d'you think I chose you, honey?" She asked, sweet as anythin'. "I know you don't really like people all that much; you're the perfect gossip partner. Always have something to say but no one to spread it to."

I burst out laughing, shoulders shaking with mirth.

"Vaughn!" Hugh's voice came as the door slammed open behind me. The kid was soaked from head to toe.

"Easy tiger." I scolded, "we don't want a hole through our wall. And stay on the doormat so y'all don't drip all over the place."

"Sorry." He apologised not sounding sorry at all, "Chelsea! You're home!" He cried as he noticed Chels and went running up to her to give her a hug, completely ignoring my request.

"Howdy Hugh." She greeted, winking at me over the top of his head. "What have you done with Lisette?"

"She's making a flower crown!" He cried and I prayed for Chels's flowers. "'Parently they're a new big deal on the mainland and she wants to make one for her mom cos she's been crying a lot." Chels and I exchanged a look.

"That's very sweet of her." Chels replied diplomatically. "I'm sure it'll cheer her mum up a lot."

"Yeah." He agreed dismissively. "Can she live with us?" He asked, looking between us hopefully. "It sounds like her dad is a real meanie, he's always sayin' real mean stuff." I swapped another glance with Chels.

"That's not our decision to make, kiddo." I stepped in, "You got given to us but we can't go takin' kids away from their moms and dads." Hugh deflated but nodded.

"S'pose that makes sense." He mumbled, chin to his chest. "But she's stayin' here tonight right?!" He asked, all excitement again.

"Until bedtime, yeah." I replied.

"You two want to help out with dinner?" Chels asked, standing up and tidying up her tea stuff. "I was thinking we could make some gnocchi and a vegetable sauce."

"Yeah!" He cheered jumping on the spot. "I love making gnocchi! I'm gonna go get Lisette so I can show her how to make 'em right!" And then he was off like a shot back outside.

"D'you reckon you should tell Popuri about what he was saying?" Chelsea asked, looking worriedly after him.

"I don't think it's anythin' new." I sighed, moving into the kitchen and grabbing a potato before starting to peel it. "I'll pass it on to her when I walk Lisette back tonight, but I don't think there's much to be done."

"The poor girl." She sighed and I agreed. I may have grown up without a dad, but at least I never had to deal with bickerin' parents. "We'll just have to make sure she has a brilliant time here with us then." She disappeared into Hugh's room and came out with some of his pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt. "This'll have to do for her until her clothes dry outside." She sighed, chucking a towel into Hugh's room. Not a moment too soon as the kid rocketed through the front door again. I swear there was a chip formin' in the wood where the handle kept slamming into it. "Ah, ah, ah!" Chelsea called before Hugh could run the water around the house. It was like havin' another dog most days. "Straight into your room with you. Towel off, change clothes and come back out with your wet ones." Hugh pouted, but slouched into his room anyway.

"Hi Chelsea!" Came a shy but happy greeting from an equally drenched Lisette.

"Hi honey." Chels smiled at her and knelt down in front of her and started towelling off her long strawberry blonde ringlets. "You up for some gnocchi making?" She asked and Lisette replied in a muffled affirmative through the towel. "Hugh said you were making a flower crown." Chels sat back on her heels and wrapped a fresh towel around Lisette's shoulders.

"Mm!" Lisette nodded. "I left it outside on the porch." She said, pointing out the door.

"You'll have to show me after dinner." Chels smiled. "I'm sure your mummy will absolutely love it." Lisette's face lit up like a spotlight and I felt a familiar pang in my chest as I saw Chels mothering the girl. "Now, head off into the bathroom and dry off. Here's a few of Hugh's things, they should fit fine but let me know if they don't okay? We've plenty else you can wear."

"Okay." Lisette agreed happily, taking the clothes from Chels. "Thank you!" Chels bent forwards and dropped a kiss to the top of the girl's head and she blushed before beaming and running off to the bathroom.

I put my potato down and walked over to Chels, wrapping her up from behind and burying my nose in her neck.

"Don't even think about starting." She warned, but her tone was warm.

"I don't know what you're referrin' to." I replied in feigned ignorance, but teasingly stroked my hand down to her lower belly anyway. She giggled and squirmed out of my grip as I lightly tickled her there.

"Back to your station, potato boy." She shooed me and I grinned, holding my hands up in surrender.

"I didn't say nothin'!" I called, backing up.

"That means you said _something_." She corrected me, whipping out with the wet towel and zapping me on the thigh. "Get back to work!" She mock growled and I laughed, grabbing a potato and quickly chucking one across the room to Hugh as the squirt emerged from his room, arms full of wet clothes.

"Think fast!" I yelled at him and he yelped as he dropped the clothes to fumble with the potato.

"Vaughn!" Chels scolded me, but she couldn't hold it. We were all laughin' when Lisette came out the bathroom, her clothes neatly folded in her hands. She looked momentarily sad at the sight of us, but put on a brave face. Chels went outside to hang the clothes up to dry in the hot afternoon sun and Hugh started to show Lisette how to carefully peel a potato.

By the time Chels returned, Lisette was giggling along with the rest of us, cheeks all pink and nose crinkled.

~.oOo.~

\- Chelsea -

It took a month and then Popuri and Lisette were back, Karen and suitcases in tow. I bumped into them all completely by chance when I was visiting Denny. They were piling off the mid-day boat while I was listening to Denny regale me with all his stories of living the Single Life. Two months on and he was doing really well. He was becoming more and more confident by the day and wasn't so scared about people judging him for chatting up a white girl anymore. His foray into the male population on the island was more low-key – especially as he'd heard mutterings about Pierre having a new beau. I think he was scared of bumping into them, so he mostly kept his attentions on the women. I stood up in surprise and waved at them.

"Hey!" I called and they looked up and waved back. They moved over with a fourth figure breaking away from the crowd on the boat and moved over to us. Instantly I noticed that something was up. Karen looked like she'd been crying – _a lot_ – and Lisette was down trodden. Even Popuri's smile wasn't as bright as normal. Before I could ask anything though, Denny was clattering to a stand next to me.

" _Kai_?" He cawed, staring at the fourth figure who had an arm around Popuri.

" _Denny_?" The guy – Kai? – cawed back.

" _Dude!_ " They both yelled and clambered around us all to embrace. They started chattering at each other – how they were hearing each other well enough to respond when they were talking over each other, I couldn't figure out. To outside ears it was just a mish-mash of " _dude_ "s, " _bro_ "s and " _awesome_ "s.

"Anyone else know what's going on here?" I asked, looking at Karen and Popuri. Lisette giggled by Karen's side. "Denny." I tugged on his arm. "What...?" I gestured between the two of them.

Denny grinned at me – his super wide infectious grin. "Chelsea," he began, half bowing, "Meet my cousin, Kai. Kai – Chelsea."

My "Nice to meet you!" was drowned out by:

" _Cousin_?" Popuri screeched. "You never told me your cousin was _Denny_!" She pouted and Kai laughed nervously as he moved back over to her.

"Sorry, babe, it never came up. I can't believe you've known him for three months already. This is _so trippy_ man."

"Dude, tell me about it." Denny replied and I gestured for Karen and Lisette to move to one side with me, leaving the three of them to it as Kai introduced Denny to Popuri.

"You okay?" I asked, looking at Karen as Lisette stared at her feet. "You staying here for a while?" They had enough bags to last them a month or more. Before Karen could reply, Popuri, Kai and Denny re-joined us.

"We have exciting news!" Popuri announced, grasping Kai's hand and arm. My eyes did the cursory left-hand and lower belly check. "Kai and I are moving to the island!"

" _Dude!"_ Denny cried out and fist-bumped Kai at the same time I shouted "Congratulations!"

"Thank you!" Popuri beamed. "Kai knows how much I love it here and he figured he could just as well open his beach hut café on this beach as he could the Mineral Town one."

"You still lookin' for something to do, bro? I could use some help around the place." Kai asked Denny.

"Seriously, man?" Denny replied, grin stretching his cheeks to the maximum.

"Job's yours if you want it." Kai shrugged.

" _Dude_." Denny gaped and then bodily tackled the guy onto the ground. Kuu jumped into the air and crowed angrily as the two started wrestling around in the sand.

"So we're staying with them for a while." Karen answered my previous question as we turned away from the brawling grown men. She subtly flashed me her left hand which was now absent of the wedding band it had held every other time I'd seen her.

"Oh." I said quietly and tried to convey my sympathies with my expression rather than words – Lisette was still stood next to her, staring at the sand beneath her shoes, limply holding Karen's right hand. "Well that should be fun, right? A holiday! It's the perfect temperature here this time of year." I said with slightly forced cheer for Lisette's sake.

I crouched down on the floor in front of her. "Just think of all the fun you can come and have with us on the farm now that you're going to be here for a while!" I enthused. "Hugh's going to have kittens, he'll be so happy!" Lisette smiled at me, and a twinkle came back into her eye. "We're just about to start incubating another egg as well, so you'll be around for the birth of the chick!" I added and excitement entered her features.

"You're hatching a chick?" She asked.

"Well, Hugh is." I said then dropped my voice conspiringly, "but to be honest, I think he needs your help. You said you'd done it before, right? You must be an expert." She giggled and I stood back up. "You moving into East town?" I asked Popuri as Denny and Kai separated and lay on their backs laughing.

"Yep!" She chirped, "though it looks like we may have a new roommate." She raised an eyebrow as the two men stood up and clapped each other on their backs.

"Nah, it takes something pretty special to pull Denny away from his beach." I joked, and Popuri laughed.

"Trust me, I know the type." She said, giving Kai a fond look.

"Right well I need to get back to the farm, but congrats guys! I'll share the news with my boys and I'm sure we'll be down later to say hi." I said and squeezed Karen on the shoulder as I passed her. "Come by any time you need." I murmured to her and she smiled at me.

"Thanks Chelsea." She said equally as softly and I took my leave. I felt bad for Karen but equally thought this would probably be a decision she'd not regret. And Hugh was going to go nuts having Lisette so close again!

~.oOo.~

\- Chelsea -

Lisette was now nearly a permanent feature at our house. Karen was managing as well as could be expected, but I think she was struggling slightly with dealing with the emotional fallout of a divorce along with the demands of being a single mum. Popuri and Kai were mostly on hand, but Kai was definitely more a brother-type to children rather than a father-type. He and Denny spent most of their time on the beach, setting up their new beach hut diner, with Popuri chipping in to help with the décor. This left Karen in the lurch a lot more often than not, so Lisette spent most of her time on the farm with Hugh or going to school at Chen's with the other kids.

The egg that Hugh, Lisette and I hatched ended up being a rooster chick rather than a hen. I tried to float the idea of calling him Altair out there, but Hugh and Lisette over-ruled me and thus Rocky joined the farm.

August came in with a heatwave and most of our time was spent hiding inside desperately eating ice cream and downing ice cubes. Halfway through the month, Mara gave birth to a desperately excitable and happy lamb. Vaughn and I were ecstatic, and even Mara seemed cheerier now she had a lamb to look over. I called her Anastasia for how she'd resurrected Mara's spirits. The very much still pregnant Lola seemed jealous and often eyed Anna balefully, but remained, for the most part, her new cheery self.

As the 21st crept up on us, Vaughn and I discussed what we were going to do for our one year anniversary. With Hugh now in the picture, we didn't want to do anything too massive – I felt like he'd been off the farm more often than he'd been on it in the last couple of months and I didn't want him to feel excluded from anything.

We ended up agreeing on a family hike to the top of the mountain with some drinks out at a bar just the two of us in the evening. Celia came to sit in whilst Hugh slept, just in case he needed anything, and Vaughn and I got dolled up and a little bit wasted out in East town. Denny joined us at some point with Karen and Kai trailing after him and we all celebrated together. It was really lovely having most of our friends there – Julia was obviously abstaining from alcohol at the moment – and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside – though that could have been the martinis.

We gazed at the stars on our walk home, reminiscing about our three month anniversary where we'd done the same. Celia was on the receiving end of our drunken greeting as we arrived home but she just laughed at us, telling us she'd be back first thing in the morning to check that the contents of our stomachs were still inside us.

We flopped into bed and slowly undressed each other – and not in a sexual way either, but because the room was spinning so badly for the both of us. Once we'd stripped down to our birthday suits, we crawled under the covers and cuddled each other to sleep. There's something incredibly intimate about holding someone whilst naked without doing anything sexual. It spoke volumes on the trust you had for each other and I fell asleep with a smile on my face at the knowledge that my cowboy and I had been together for a whole year now. May many more follow.

 **Chapter End.**

 **A/N:** **Brit notes:**

 **Primark: cheap clothing store**

 **Fenton the dog: a black Labrador who was filmed chasing herds of deer in Richmond Park in SW London with his owner chasing after him trying to call him off. The deer are legally protected by law so the owner was pretty stressed out. It's a good video, I recommend.**

 **PG Tips: nectar of the gods. (It's a common household choice for black tea)**

 **Eurovision: Google image it, just do it.**

 **Next chapter is a short and final one!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** **FINAL CHAPTER. Time to tie up some loose ends guys, warning for fast POV swaps.**

 **Chapter 15.**

\- Chelsea -

As we greeted in September, I floated the idea of Vaughn and I going away on a trip together again. I felt like we'd got our ducks in a row and that everyone else was on hand and capable to help out with the farm and Hugh in our absence. Anna was old enough now that she didn't have to be under Vaughn's near-constant supervision and Rocky was nearly fully mature. Karen was coping better with Lisette which meant we lost Hugh every now and then to Popuri's and Kai's house and Celia had more free hours now that she was a manager at the café in East town and didn't have to work her second job.

With Hugh, Popuri, Karen and Lanna all on the island, I felt like the farm would be in good hands if we left it.

Vaughn was still up for it and after asking around a bit, we decided on Banff, Canada. I'd always wanted to go to Canada and Vaughn had never been that far North on the globe, so we thought it would be a good choice for both of our sake's. We decided we'd go for five days at the tail-end of the month, after Hugh's 10th birthday.

It finally felt like things were falling into place the way they should be.

~.oOo.~

\- Vaughn -

Mine and Chels's monthly anniversary came and passed and we didn't even notice it we were so busy with the late summer harvest and autumn planting. It wasn't until the next day that we realised it had happened. Chels got a bit glum by it but I took it as a watershed moment. For me, the day hadn't passed by unnoticed because every day with Chels had grown gray and stale. For me, it was because every day I was indescribably happy with my life. I wasn't countin' down my days anymore like I used to before I moved to the island, and I wasn't wastin' away my life like I was before I took the job at the island in the first place. Chels brought more color into my life than anything and now every day was full of it, so much so that I couldn't tell the difference between the special days and the normal ones. Chels made me the happiest I'd ever been and I couldn't imagine havin' anyone else by my side in life.

So I made a decision. First I stopped by Aunt Bella's to chat to her (and check in on Jules on the way. She was now six months along and showing. She and Elliot would be movin' in together very soon having finally saved enough for Gannon to build 'em a two bedroom house in West town). I wasn't all that good with tradition, but I figured as the closest thing to a relative I had, I should let her know what I was planning on doing.

Next, I told Chels that I was heading to the city for the day to buy Hugh's birthday presents so she wouldn't be suspicious. Incidentally, I did buy his presents, but first I stopped off at a jewellery store. I didn't know much about jewellery or anythin', but like that time I'd bought Chels her favourite blue dress, something drew me to this unsuspecting slim silver ring. The guy behind the counter said it was a "white gold solitaire engagement ring with a round brilliant cut central aquamarine and white topaz insets". I just thought it looked right. The guy said I could bring it back for size adjustments if needed and five minutes later I was walking out the shop with the ring box burning a hole in my pocket.

~.oOo.~

\- Chelsea -

After mine and Vaughn's anniversary, we started thinking about what we were going to do for Hugh's 10th birthday. 10 was a pretty big age for a kid to turn – the age when they finally hit double figures. Never again in their lives would they have a one digit age. We were planning on throwing him a jungle-themed party. And we meant that literally. A week before Hugh's birthday, I made a visit to the textile mill and caught Lanna hard at work. Looking at her go I really didn't deserve the "C" in "L&C" with how little attention I'd been paying to the business. I just harvested the material and dumped it in the mill at the end of the day.

"How's it going?" I asked her, making her jump in the stitch she was, err, stitching.

"Chelsea!" She moaned, "I'm going to have to unpick this now!" She said, pulling the fabric out of the sewing machine and reaching for an unpicker.

"Sorry, sorry!" I apologised, pulling up a spare stool and watching her at work.

"How can I help you?" She asked once she'd unpicked the wonky stitches and redone them to her satisfaction.

"I was hoping to ask for a favour of you and Shea." I started.

"Anything for the co-owner of L&C!" she chirped at me, and I stared at her blankly.

"Right." I agreed. I literally just cut the cotton, man. "Well, it's Hugh's 10th birthday next week and Vaughn and I were hoping to use the jungle as a staging area for his party?"

"Oh my god!" She squealed, "I _love_ parties! Of course you can! Oh, Shea and I will take care of _everything_ , we can even perform for you on the night, oh my god it's going to be _wild_."

"It is for a _ten_ year old, remember!" I emphasised, images of some kind of spirit distilled from a jungle plant being poured generously into plastic cups flashing up in my brain.

"Oh don't be such a square, Chelsea. Trust me, it'll be _fine_. Now leave me be, this poncho isn't going to make itself." I hurriedly backed out the textile mill, hoping I hadn't just made a bad mistake.

~.oOo.~

The morning of Hugh's birthday dawned and Vaughn and I were instantly in action the moment the alarm clock went off. I was up and laying the table as Vaughn made a start on the omelettes for breakfast. Once I'd sorted the table, I ran around like a mad woman setting up balloons and bunting, piling up the small stack of presents we had for Hugh on the coffee table in front of the sofa. I'd had Chen order some helium canisters and big foil "1" and "0" balloons which I filled and tied to the back of his chair.

Just as Vaughn was pouring the egg and veg mixture into the pan, a soft knock on the door came and I let Celia in.

"Morning!" She whispered to me and I returned it. "It looks amazing in here!"

"Thanks!" I replied, "Still no sign of him, but I expect him to burst out any min –"

"IT'S MY BIRTHDAAAAAAY!" Came the war cry as a ginger blur ran into the room at top speed. He got halfway to mine and Vaughn's room before he noticed we were all up and how the room was decorated. " _WOAH_!" He yelled and stood stock still in the middle of the room.

"Happy birthday!" I called out and Vaughn and Celia echoed me.

"Sis!" Hugh beamed and ran over to give Celia a hug. "You came!"

"Of course I did." Celia replied, "I'd never miss my favourite man's birthday."

"Come on then birthday boy." I said, pulling out his chair for him and setting down a big glass of milk in his place. "Breakfast first and then you can have presents." I know we'd been looking after Hugh for the better part of 9 months now, but it still felt weird calling the shots in front of Celia. She just smiled and let go of Hugh, ushering him towards the table and taking her own seat.

"Order up." Vaughn drawled as he slid the first omelette onto a plate and I put it in front of Hugh.

"Yay, omelette!" Hugh cawed and started tucking in. "Do I haff cake?" He asked around a mouthful and Celia gently told him off.

"Mouth shut when you eat Hugh, and talk once you've swallowed."

"No cake at breakfast." I told him, "but you're going to get some later, don't you worry!" He beamed an eggy grin at me as Vaughn slid out two more omelettes and I shooed him out the kitchen so he could go and eat whilst I made my own.

"Is it good?" He asked, mostly rhetorically, as Hugh shovelled it in.

"Uh!" Hugh nodded and forked another mouthful in.

I flipped my own breakfast onto my plate and joined everyone at the table, the four of us chattering and laughing as Hugh told us stories about what had gone on in school the day before.

After we'd all eaten, Hugh tore into his presents with even more vigour than he'd torn into his breakfast with. Each gift was met with an exclamation and some bodily show of joy be that jumping up and down, fist-pumping or generic pin-wheeling of the arms. Mine and Vaughn's main present was some shiny new trainers that were meant for running which Hugh seemed to love. Apart from that, we'd got him some new clothes (he was ever-growing after all), some new toys and a couple of DVDs. Celia had bought him some puzzles and a CD player with some standard CDs full of music that most kids his age were being exposed to on the mainland. It wasn't exactly an iPod, but without computers and internet on the island, we had to do things old-school. Hugh didn't care though, and got up, running around and giving us all massive hugs in thanks.

After that we had to deal with the farm chores. By this stage it was pretty basic – watering the soil for the new autumn crops and harvesting the late summer crops. Vaughn did the animals as usual, and Hugh whizzed round the greenhouse before joining Vaughn to coo over baby Anna who was fully fluffy now and utterly adorable.

We had a late lunch and then Celia took Hugh off to the beach to play in the sand and sea whilst Vaughn and I started "hauling ass" (as he put it) with all the gear we needed for his jungle-party. We met Shea and Lanna in the middle of the clearing by the hut that Shea had built for them both. The place looked perfect. Vaughn and I were there to add the decorations and consumables (including Hugh's triple chocolate fudge cake I'd commissioned Pierre to bake), but Shea and Lanna had clearly been hard at work making the place party-appropriate. Little stumpy stools littered the outskirts of the large circular clearing and in the middle of it all was a giant bonfire pit, all stacked and ready to burn. The break in the trees above us showed a clear blue sky as the sun started to set and I thought it'd look magical here with the stars out and the bonfire lit.

Outside the front of the huts was a small stage with various tribal instruments that made up the musical act that Lanna and Shea created. Vaughn and I hurried to get all the food and drinks out, along with a few balloons weighted down appropriately with rocks tied in their strings.

People started arriving soon after – it was the first time Denny and Pierre were going to be at the same event, and I was worried for a moment, but once they'd both arrived, the two seemed to just acknowledge each other before ignoring each other from that point on. It felt like everyone on the island came. Charlie, Eliza and Lisette were all there with their hoard of guardians, and Elliot and a very round Julia had managed to make the walk as well. Mirabelle was merrily chatting along with Taro and Felicia as Natalie stood to one side with Mark and Alisa, looking pretty uncomfortable to be there. Wada was keeping a watchful eye over everyone from the inside of his hut – we'd invited him to join, but I think it was too overwhelming for him. Shea seemed a little unsettled as well, but Lanna wasn't leaving his side which helped immensely.

All that we needed now was Celia to arrive with Hugh.

~.oOo.~

\- Vaughn -

The party started with a success. Celia brought Hugh bang on time and everyone roared a rather tuneless version of "Happy Birthday" at the kid as he stood there, eyes as wide as saucers. Right in front of everyone, Lisette ran up to him and kissed him on the cheek before taking his hand and dragging him over to the table that had his birthday cake on.

"I think that means they're married now." Chels whispered to me and I snorted into the orange juice I'd been sipping at.

After the cake cutting and eating, Lanna and Shea started up on the stage. Their music was weirdly good, and everyone seemed to go nuts for it. It was upbeat and rhythmic and it didn't take long for the bonfire in the middle of the clearing to get lit and for people to start dancin'.

I watched as my cowgirl danced around like a loon with Hugh, Charlie, Eliza and Lisette. She was picking them up and swinging 'em round and hopping along with whatever crazy dance moves their little brains thought up of. My heart swelled and my mind burned with the knowledge of the ring box I'd hidden in the same place I hid Will's stupid necklace. I was enjoying my night celebrating my favourite little guy's birthday, but I couldn't wait 'til we got to Banff. Five days undisturbed with each other, and I vowed that this time we'd hike to the top of a mountain and star gaze by night. I wanted to propose by starlight – the only kind of light that my eyes could manage and the only kind of sky that made me aware of how finite we all were. Chels's brain always cooked up questions about mortality and our place in the universe, and I never felt more connected to that side of her than when we were out under the stars. She had parts of her that were pretty wacky, but they made her who she was and I absolutely adored every bit of her. I wanted us to be together for the rest of our lives; I wanted us to have kids someday that we'd raise our own and I had no doubt she'd do a stunning job of it. I wanted to marry her and get to call her my wife and I wanted to spend the rest of my days proving to her time and again how much I loved her.

I loved her for everything that she was and everything that she stood for. I loved her for soothing over my insecurities and negative qualities and drawing out the best ones in me that no one else bothered to notice existed. I loved her for who she helped me be; for who I was when I was with her. I loved her because she'd done it by doing nothing else but be herself. She was my own personal sun, and was just as blinding to look at.

As I watched her now from across the bonfire, I swear her skin was aglow from all the life that she contained.

\- Chelsea -

Hugh was having an amazing time and it warmed my heart to see him careening around the place, enjoying his childhood to the fullest. Having him move in with us was the best thing that had happened to him in a long time and I would forever admire Vaughn for taking the risk and suggesting it. We'd been pretty young in our relationship to take on a full-time child, but we'd made it work, despite the ups and downs of our private lives. My cowboy was so much braver than he felt.

Lanna and Shea started on their next song and I bowed out from dancing with the kids to go and take a break. The sugar just didn't affect me the same as them anymore.

"I'm getting old." I moaned as I plonked myself on Vaughn's lap and stole the rest of his orange juice. "I can't keep up with them anymore." Vaughn laughed.

"If _you're_ old, then what does that make me?" He asked.

"A cradle-snatcher." I replied and he laughed again. "Have you noticed Denny and Celia tonight?" I asked, watching the pair from across the bonfire. I knew he frequented her café a fair amount, but I hadn't really connected the dots that that meant they might have started interacting with each other. Looking at them now, I'd say they were _really_ close to _interacting_ in a whole different way.

"Somethin's brewing." Vaughn agreed. "I'm happy for 'em. I can see it workin'."

"Who knows, maybe something will happen when they're looking after Hugh whilst we're away." I pondered. "Five days is plenty of time."

"Mmm." He agreed, looking at me strangely. "Anythin' can happen in five days." I raised an eyebrow at his weird tone, but got distracted by a cheer from a crowd that was gathered around Karen as she slammed back a shot of something. I sighed a crippling sigh as Lanna did a shout-out to her in the middle of the song she was singing. Taro and Gannon were egging Karen on to do more whilst Natalie tried to keep up next to her. Elliot was staring curiously at them but Jules had an iron fist grip around his wrist, keeping him in the seat next to her. In her other hand was a plate piled high with cake and...pickles? Mirabelle was sat by the fire, knitting – _who brings knitting to a party? –_ little booties for her incoming grandchild and Felicia was keeping her company.

Looking around me at all the weird and wonderful people gathered here, I felt my heart swell in pride and joy. My whole life I'd been searching for happiness. The grey streets of London yielded me very little and I'd thought maybe Somerset would be the key to it all; to figuring out how to do this living thing properly. I never would have guessed that I would find it on the other side of the globe, on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific, but being here right now, waking up every day to this and knowing that my future lay here – in the soil I tilled and the roots I planted – I knew I had finally become everything I had ever wanted to be. I was happy.

 **Story end.**

 **A/N** **: For people who have stuck with this story to the end and are wondering what the hell the title has to do with anything; Laetitia is a Latin name that means "happiness".**

 **This beast really got away from me - it was only meant to be around 20k when I started. At most, I was hoping for 50k to be a good decent length story. And instead this happened. I wrote the majority of this in a month in 2015 and I'm happy to say that I picked it up and finished it off this year. It's been a long project and I'm sad to see it go but happy to share it with y'all now it's complete.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **-ElGal**


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